Can You Be the CEO of a Hypergrowth Company and a Consultant at the Same Time?

This is the question I need to answer right now, so I'm sharing it with you.

The answer is far from simple because on one hand, I have a hypergrowth company that demands 200% of my involvement, and on the other, we're living through a revolution with the rise of Artificial Intelligence, in which I feel I must get personally involved to raise awareness on these topics.

So it's a dilemma that's difficult for me to resolve, because growing a company is an immense challenge, and at the same time, not getting involved in AI issues with the knowledge and mastery of the subject would, in my eyes, be problematic.

AI's impact is already significant globally. It will be colossal in the coming years.

Honestly, in my view, we are not at all prepared enough to face these new challenges, and I doubt we can project ourselves clearly into the coming years. When I look at the EU's AI Act, for instance, you can tell it lacks maturity and that the topic is still evolving.

Today, I feel compelled to explain what AI is and what its impacts are, so that collectively we can ask the right questions -- so that tomorrow, when we need to take a stand, we're ready and don't end up being caught off guard.

AI in My Daily Life

It's simple: I've completely changed the way I work.

Either I've created AI agents to meet specific needs, or we've developed them as a team. I use AI for a huge number of tasks, even though I keep a few areas untouched, like writing my newsletter or blog articles like this one.

Thanks to AI, I've gained autonomy and efficiency: I can do far more in far less time, which makes my work and my conversations much more relevant than before. For a CEO, time is the scarcest resource there is, so gaining more of it is priceless.

By nature, I've always spent time keeping up with a wide range of topics, and since November 2022 when ChatGPT truly launched, we've been seeing AI innovations every single day. It's exciting, and there's plenty to geek out about (at least for me, I love it!).

Clearly, as of now, we're still figuring things out with AI, and this feeling is amplified in the professional space with a lack of methodology and maturity that makes complete sense.

"Is this yet another fad like NFTs or Web3?

OK, it's practical, but so is Google.

Is AI going to replace me?

Oh, this is AMAZING -- everything I can do now.

I'll admit I'm skeptical. We've been hearing about this for years, I'll wait and see.

I don't even know where to start.

I don't understand any of it and I don't have time to look into it.

My nephew showed me."

Everyone talks about it, but it doesn't go much further because what's missing today, beyond AI's wow factor, are usage innovations -- because everything is still being built.

In the coming years, we'll likely see innovations we haven't even imagined yet. Some industries will almost certainly be disrupted.

A Clash of Cultures

Beyond the fascinating technology, you have to realize that this is also a business -- even a societal -- issue, because you don't need to be technical to leverage AI.

It's a paradigm shift that's a genuine game changer.

Let's go even further: depending on your geographic region, AI isn't handled the same way.

In the United States, it's a growth and business imperative, so regulations are relatively light (except in New York). In Europe, the vision is clearly focused on fundamental rights, with an AI approach centered on data protection. In China, it's a tool for propaganda and large-scale control. And so on.

So it's also a clash of cultures playing out behind the scenes, one that will force the entire world to take a stance.

AI's effects are beneficial, and at the same time, there are darker aspects that also need to be understood -- without falling into a black-and-white worldview.

It's clear that we have the opportunity to rethink our society through a new lens, and to do so, we must frame the right questions by mastering the subject.

That's exactly why I chose to temporarily go back to consulting.

Being CEO and Consultant

I won't hide it: I missed consulting because I LOVE this work, which I find absolutely fascinating. Diving into a client's challenges, bringing your perspective, learning and discovering... Truly, it's a wonderful profession that enriches you intellectually in a thousand ways.

By dedicating time to being a Consultant, I'm able to carve out a new growth path for Reboot by ensuring our approach is sound and our convictions are well-informed. Just as I had to learn everything about Digital Marketing in 2016-2017, I have the same pleasure in progressing in AI.

My observation today is that most of my ecosystem addresses AI from an essentially technical and technological angle, as if it were reserved for an initiated audience. We ourselves took several months before decisively moving away from that view toward the one we've held since early 2024.

I had fun trying to pass AI certifications, including Microsoft's: they talked to me about linear regression, how each type of AI works, etc. It's very interesting, especially for someone like me with a master's in mathematics, but honestly, mastering all that jargon is beside the point. The strength of the new AI tools at our disposal is precisely that you can abstract away from that knowledge and embrace new use cases thanks to it. So, by persisting in the belief that AI is only for technical people, we're missing the point entirely.

Some companies have understood this VERY well. I'm thinking particularly of the unicorn Alan, which invested in Mistral AI and spent 2024 structuring itself around AI so that in 2025, usage innovations could spring up everywhere, without limits.

That's why I feel a responsibility toward French society by working with clients of all sizes -- from 3-person companies to very large enterprises -- to explain these new challenges that will shift value, eliminate it in some places, and create it in others. Whether in a board meeting or with employees, I step in to explain that taking a stance isn't optional -- if not now, then very soon.

Will we achieve the 4-day workweek through AI? Will there be work for everyone? What new jobs will be created? Will we have a society of robots capable of working for us?

It feels like we've stepped into an Asimov novel, doesn't it?

It took us several months to arrive at this non-technical vision of AI, even though we're on the front lines of this topic, our company is still young with 70 Rebooters, and we have a particularly open mindset. How long will it take for companies with greater inertia?

That's why I decided to go back to consulting.

Back to the Original Question

That said, Reboot is a wild company where things move at the speed of light.

If I were to list all our current and upcoming projects, it would take a very long time! To name just a few: we're launching a startup that will commercialize our AI products, we're delivering large-scale, high-impact projects for our clients (including one where we're taking an equity stake), we're preparing to open our next office as part of Reboot Conseil's growth strategy, we're working with new clients and strengthening relationships with existing ones, we've expanded our engineering team... and the list goes on!

Inevitably, I'm at minimum supporting each of these activities and leading others (including the startup).

My advantage is that I'm particularly well surrounded, and AI saves me a tremendous amount of time; without it, I'd be unable to go this far.

So it's unthinkable for me to be both CEO AND Consultant over a long period, even though doing both enriches me -- as a CEO it makes me a better Consultant, and as a Consultant it makes me a better CEO.

So What's the Plan?

It's quite straightforward: I handle the first engagements, document them, and standardize them so that another Rebooter -- one who's comfortable speaking with both operational teams and senior executives -- can pick up my work, improve it, and take it even further.

In my view, being operational is part of my CEO role, and besides, I don't like being far from "the field."

As long as I can -- by which I mean as long as it benefits Reboot and doesn't hold the company back -- I'll keep doing it.

Ultimately, it's a matter of organization and letting go: since I have full confidence in every Rebooter, it's also thanks to them that this is possible!