Customized Training: The Manager’s New Role – Kevin Bouchareb

Baseline Trust vs. Baseline Control

Kevin emphasized a founding principle: baseline trust rather than default control. When someone joins a team, starting from the assumption that people are competent and can be trusted radically changes the employee experience. Conversely, policies that create rigidity (number of remote days, clocking in, prohibitions) lead to workarounds—such as clocking in at 9:00 AM and leaving at 9:30 AM.

“The right way to manage isn’t to create a restrictive policy for the 5% who abuse it; it’s to deal with that 5% to empower the other 95%,” he reminded us. A good HR policy is built with managers and frontline staff, not in a vacuum.

Work from Anywhere and Gray Areas

At Ubisoft, Kevin championed Work from Anywhere at a time when few companies dared to. He showed that instead of saying “no” out of fear (legal, insurance), you have to look closely at what the law allows: within the European Union, a framework for working days abroad is perfectly manageable. He invites leaders to explore the gray areas—what is neither forbidden nor explicitly authorized—to find levers for social added value and attractiveness.

Training: From Catalogues to ROI and AI

Kevin criticized the catalogue logic driven by procurement (more training for less money) and the lack of real impact measurement. He advocates for zero-based learning: starting from the skills the organization needs and associating them with training projects (blended, immersive, personalized) rather than isolated modules. AI now enables immersive simulators, personalization, and on-the-job learning at scale. According to him, training directors must master at least an intermediate level of AI and launch pilots without delay.

The Manager: Mirror and Revealer, Not a Backup for the AI Coach

Faced with career paths that are increasingly individualized by AI, the manager’s role remains irreplaceable: a magnifying, benevolent, and demanding mirror for the employee, capable of revealing the invisible (political stakes, potential) and providing challenges. The AI coach will help more with operationalization. The symmetry of attention—giving to each according to their needs, not the same thing to everyone—creates equity:

• red lines (common contract, non-negotiable constraints)
• green lines (territory of freedom) allow for the articulation of structure and flexibility.

Transformation Triggers

To set an organization in motion, Kevin cites three levers: WIIFM (What’s in it for me)—showing the benefit for the employee; co-construction with teams rather than projects dropped from above; and a resolutely positive and owned vision.

“Those who succeed today take real risks and choose a side, even if it means not pleasing everyone”—much like Pascal Demurger at MAIF or Elon Musk regarding project clarity, without necessarily adopting his management style.

In a nutshell…

• Baseline trust and policies built with managers and frontline staff; dealing with abuse to empower the majority.
• Gray areas and Work from Anywhere: looking closely at the law and risks instead of banning by reflex.
• Training: zero-based learning, ROI measurement, AI, and immersion in service of target skills.
• Manager: symmetry of attention, red/green lines, acting as a mirror and revealer alongside the AI coach.

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