Changing roles. Changing country. Learning new skills. And starting again, more than once. Over eleven years at Orange, Mahdi El Bahi has built his career step by step, seizing opportunities as they came along and sometimes creating them himself.
Today, as AI & Data Product Manager at Orange Innovation, he works on Live Intelligence, Orange's generative AI platform used by more than 100,000 employees worldwide. The thread running through it all, right from the start, is curiosity and a drive to keep learning.
Today, as AI & Data Product Manager at Orange Innovation, he works on Live Intelligence, Orange's generative AI platform used by more than 100,000 employees worldwide. The thread running through it all, right from the start, is curiosity and a drive to keep learning.
Turning point #2 - Putting his hand up before he felt ready
A few years later, Mahdi felt the pull towards data. The subject hadn't really taken off in Morocco yet. That's when he came across Orange Graduate.
"I think that was a defining moment in my career."
Through the programme, he joined Orange Innovation in Paris as a data analyst. New role, new environment, new challenge. Then a new subject emerged: generative AI. Mahdi decided not to wait. He decided to make the opportunity happen.
"When I saw there was a generative AI project starting up, I spoke to my manager and told him there was an opportunity to do this in-house. If there was a team working on it, I'd like to join."
The team was there. Some time later, it would become the team behind Live Intelligence, which Mahdi would join it.
"I think that was a defining moment in my career."
Through the programme, he joined Orange Innovation in Paris as a data analyst. New role, new environment, new challenge. Then a new subject emerged: generative AI. Mahdi decided not to wait. He decided to make the opportunity happen.
"When I saw there was a generative AI project starting up, I spoke to my manager and told him there was an opportunity to do this in-house. If there was a team working on it, I'd like to join."
The team was there. Some time later, it would become the team behind Live Intelligence, which Mahdi would join it.
Turning point #5 - Learning to have an impact at scale
Running a tool used by 100,000 people around the world taught him a new way of working: prioritising, focusing on what matters most, and learning to speak to very different business areas.
"When you're working on something with 100,000 users, there's a lot of noise. Plenty of people telling you 'I want this, I want to do that.' I learned to focus on what really matters."
"I learned to work with very different kinds of people: speaking the language of developers, the language of lawyers, the language of HR. I work across a lot of different business areas, and that's a real richness."
"When you're working on something with 100,000 users, there's a lot of noise. Plenty of people telling you 'I want this, I want to do that.' I learned to focus on what really matters."
"I learned to work with very different kinds of people: speaking the language of developers, the language of lawyers, the language of HR. I work across a lot of different business areas, and that's a real richness."
