Interview with Fabien Breget, founder and CEO of Nomadia, who shares his secrets for competing with global leaders.

 How did the idea for Nomadia come to you?

 I initially led several companies, but I had the desire to embark on an entrepreneurial project and be an entrepreneur myself. I wanted to have more control in shareholding and be involved in an entrepreneurial project. An opportunity arose to acquire a company operating in the IT sector, which is my passion.

It offered B2B solutions, aligning with the type of clients our existing company worked with. Importantly, I had a good rapport with the seller, and the acquisition made sense after frequent meetings. It was also a thriving market, the Field Service Management (FSM), currently experiencing strong growth.

 The business focuses on solutions for managing mobile professionals (sales representatives, technicians, delivery drivers, etc.). I found it interesting to delve into innovative solutions in a growing market. When we talk about innovation in these markets, we find mobile applications for professionals in the field, artificial intelligence technologies, virtual reality, etc. It’s a market that will continue to leverage technology to support the productivity of employees and users in the field. The last aspect that attracted me was working with mobile professionals who are our users and helping them reduce costs associated with their travels. There was a CSR dimension because we genuinely help companies be more ethically responsible by minimizing travel, optimizing appointments, routes, and ultimately reducing CO2 emissions during this period of global transformation. We combine technological innovation, IT environments, and a highly CSR-oriented approach.

When was Nomadia created?

 The Nomadia brand was established in 2021. There were multiple acquisitions of companies, and at some point, it was simpler to change the name of all the companies and unify everything around a single common project to bring together all the expertise. We had acquired one company in 2020, another at the end of 2020, and a third in 2021. The Nomadia brand was created when we acquired the third company. Interestingly, the employees were involved in choosing the name!

Were you previously involved in high technology? Y

es, I pursued my career in high technology and IT services for businesses. I worked in payroll outsourcing in the world’s largest group, ADP (Automatic Data Processing). I then worked in another domain, but the majority of my career was at ADP, where I spent 17 years as CEO of ADP Italy. Payroll outsourcing involves technological solutions for businesses. Even though payroll may not seem like an exciting service at first glance, it is an area ripe with innovation due to the complexity in payroll calculations and constantly changing regulations. These companies provide services to other businesses, and quality is the linchpin.

 What made you decide to start a company rather than continue with larger groups?

I have always been an entrepreneur, even when working in large corporations. I held leadership positions, and, I must admit, my hyperactive nature means I enjoy making decisions and driving projects while developing organizations. I am always imagining various things, which aligns with an entrepreneurial profile.

After succeeding in companies, I had the desire to take the leap. I wasn’t doing anything but reproducing past successes, sometimes improving the business model, but it already worked. So, I wanted a bit more creativity in my new role and to be more entrepreneurial. The business opportunity presented itself, and I seized it.

We are entering a period where many entrepreneurs are retiring. There is a generational shift, with baby boomers retiring for the past decade and ongoing retirements. We need dynamic individuals to take over their businesses; otherwise, companies stop. I wanted to be part of this continuity and contribute my expertise to entrepreneurs who wanted to retire.

 What is Nomadia doing today? What did you do initially?

By chance, the first company had an activity quite close to what we are doing today, focusing on solutions for mobile professionals in the three sectors we target: technicians, delivery drivers, and sales representatives. The other companies, which were acquired, brought additional expertise, especially for sales representatives.

The second company had a rather high-end solution more widely used in the retail sector, which strengthened our product portfolio. The third company brought an additional component useful to the first two: route optimization with artificial intelligence solutions. This allowed us to add this technology to the products of the first two companies.

There was a positive transversal effect across the entire client base, and we could offer them 360-degree route optimization. The fourth company, acquired last July, introduced another interesting component, which is mobile solutions, mainly for technicians, for Lone Worker Protection (PTI). These are software that identifies falls, triggers alerts, and processes them in case of incidents.

What have been the major milestones since the company’s creation?

 The major milestones include both the acquisition of all the companies in July 2020, December 2020, April 2021, and July 2022, and the creation of the Nomadia brand with the press launch in September 2021. We gathered journalists in a large hotel and explained that we were consolidating the companies, their expertise, and launching the first French SaaS solutions editor for mobile professionals. It was a key moment for positioning the brand and pooling our knowledge. Another pivotal period was when we launched the entity in Italy in February 2022. We wanted a manager for Italy and recruited someone locally who established the legal company and launched the Italian market.

We were already present in five other countries, but expanding into Italy seemed obvious. My background includes living in Italy for 17 years, so I wanted to return, use my network, and, as I had led ADP in Italy, I had a network of client contacts and former collaborators. I was able to leverage that.

Were there any other stages?

 Afterward, there is also a stage of recruiting high-quality personnel. It is important to surround oneself with very expert individuals, as the sellers of the companies all retire gradually. I recruited two senior managers, one of whom was my CTO when I was at ADP. He had become CTO of CEGID when he joined us. He is someone who managed large teams and is truly an expert in all aspects of SaaS solutions, security, and the quality of developments. This was a crucial reinforcement that took place in April 2021.

Other recruitments include Patrick Tellouck, who took over the Field Sales division, managing solutions for sales representatives, and had extensive expertise in GMS (Grocery, Mass Merchandisers) and commercial force organization consulting.

What will be your major challenges in the future?

More acquisitions will take place to strengthen our position as the French leader and become the European leader within three to five years. We aim to be an alternative to major American players such as Salesforce, IFS, or Oracle. The challenges are to become a true French competitor, a leader in our sector, and to continue innovating to maintain a lead over these large American giants who may be bigger but not necessarily have functionally richer products. International development is one of the major challenges, with acquisitions happening across Europe.

We are already present in the USA, but we want to continue expanding there with a physical presence, which will be strengthened in the coming months. And that’s already quite a lot! What has been the biggest difficulty you encountered, and how did you overcome it? The biggest challenge? The workload is still a huge challenge because when we acquire many companies, each time it involves time