14.10.2025
At ESSEC, research is no ivory tower exercise. It is lived, shared, tested. It informs action, guides strategy, and prepares organizations for tomorrow’s challenges. Meet Charles Ayoubi, Assistant Professor at ESSEC Business School, whose work is reshaping the way we think about innovation.
The idea of a magic recipe for innovation makes Charles Ayoubi smile. “Every organization is unique. There is no universal method for managing creativity,” he says. A specialist in innovation processes, trained at ESSEC, CentraleSupélec, and EPFL, with experience at Harvard, Ayoubi studies how ideas emerge, are assessed, selected – or abandoned – within companies. It’s a vital subject at a time when artificial intelligence is reshaping collective creativity.
Observe, understand… to better guide
Working closely with a dozen companies, from SMEs to global players like Procter & Gamble, Ayoubi analyzes, experiments, and challenges practices. “My goal is to understand what works, and then share those insights with students and decision-makers,” he explains.
His method combines field experiments with observational studies. “A company that doesn’t reinvent itself is a company in decline,” he reminds us. Intrapreneurship, adoption of digital tools, and idea evaluation are just some of the dynamics his research explores within real-world innovation.
One of his most current research areas examines how organizations use generative artificial intelligence. “Those who thrive are often the ones who already have strong managerial and social skills. It’s not purely technical,” he notes. Gaps in adoption, particularly between men and women, raise further questions: technological perception, cultural bias, lack of confidence… “There’s a real inclusion challenge in how these tools are embraced,” he stresses.
Teaching entrepreneurship through research and experience
At ESSEC, Ayoubi teaches across all programs, and that’s no coincidence. “There’s a constant back-and-forth between research and teaching. What I observe in class feeds my work, and vice versa,” he says.
His courses are firmly anchored in reality: data analysis, case studies, real-world simulations. In one exercise, students must create a company in just 90 minutes. “A group at Harvard once turned that exercise into a real company. Today they sell energy candies and have generated $200,000 in revenue,” he adds with a smile.
A strong entrepreneur is not only creative. They also know when to say no. “Generating ideas is good. But knowing which ones to develop is essential,” Ayoubi insists. Some of his research explores AI tools that can evaluate hundreds of projects at speed. “AI can help filter weaker ideas, but it can also wrongly dismiss innovative ones. That’s why the final decision must always remain human,” he emphasizes.
Preparing tomorrow’s leaders for uncertainty
Rethinking entrepreneurship means learning to manage uncertainty, challenge assumptions, and experiment. And it means drawing on research for guidance. For Ayoubi, this is essential: “Knowledge is cumulative. If we want tomorrow’s entrepreneurs to innovate responsibly and effectively, we need to equip them with tools grounded in evidence.”
That is ESSEC’s ambition: to train enlightened innovators, capable of transforming ideas into actions and actions into impact.
