European retail technology big hitter Cegid appoints Bruno Vaffier as Chief Operating Officer

Cegid, a European specialist in cloud management solutions to the finance (treasury, tax, ERP), human resources (payroll, talent management), accountancy, retail and entrepreneurship sectors, has announced the appointment of Bruno Vaffier as Chief Operating Officer (COO).

Vaffier will report to CEO Pascal Houillon and will join the company's executive committee.

His appointment coincides with a new phase of growth and development for Cegid, which recently announced an expanded partnership with Crew Clothing Company.

The company’s ‘Forward.ai’ plan looks to pioneer the adoption of generative artificial intelligence in business management software solutions, with the aim of delivering innovative and useful solutions that drive greater efficiency for its customers.

Vaffier will lead the CFO Office – which oversees finance, IT, legal, M&A and purchasing departments.

He will also head up the customer experience and customer care teams, and will be responsible for the operating and financial performance of Cegid’s cross-functional Professional Services activities.

“I am very excited by the opportunity to join Pascal and the team to contribute to Cegid’s next stage of growth. Cegid’s commitment to generative AI opens immense opportunities for our clients and I am looking forward to work with the COO Office on the execution of Cegid’s Forward.ai strategic plan to accelerate the company's development in France and internationally,” he says.

“My focus will be on ensuring our customers have the best end to end experience and satisfaction, on pushing AI adoption to improve internal efficiency and on conducting major transformation projects to support Cegid's business and financial performance. It is a privilege to join such a leader in the software space.”

Vaffier was previously CFO at Webhelp from 2016 to 2020 before being appointed Managing Director, a position he held before joining Cegid.

He previously also held various managerial positions at the Atos group for nearly 15 years.

He was then appointed CFO at Worldline Global, a subsidiary of Atos, a position in which he served from 2014 to 2016. Having worked for nearly five years in Madrid, his international experience in Iberia – a core market for Cegid – will be valuable in his new role.

"Generative artificial intelligence is Cegid’s new DNA. It represents a profound change that paves the way for new growth opportunities for the company. Our strategic plan ’Cegid Forward.ai’, launched last October, clearly and sustainably defines Cegid's aspirations for the coming years, marked by a major technological disruption,” says Houillon.

“The acceleration of the adoption of our solutions by our 500,000 clients worldwide is accompanied by new needs.”

“By investing heavily in the most cutting-edge technologies, such as generative AI, we continue our mission of useful innovation by contributing to defining the future of our clients' professions. Bruno Vaffier’s experience will be highly valuable in ensuring and managing the implementation of our plan across each of our markets.”

"Bruno Vaffier brings a wealth of expertise to Cegid gained from more than two decades of experience in top management positions, focused on finance and operations in international industry leaders,” says Christian Lucas, Managing Partner of Silver Lake and Vice-Chairman at Cegid Group’s Board of Directors.

“Silver Lake is committed to continued, long-term support of Cegid’s ambitious growth strategy as a European cloud software leader, and we are very excited to be working together with Bruno on accelerating this path even further.”