Technology for Positive Impact: Cara Antoine

Cara Antoine can pinpoint the exact moment she took her first steps as a woman in tech – and it all traces back to a game between siblings that turned sour.

"I was 14 and just getting really excited about technology," she tells The CEO Magazine. "My brother and I were playing a game of catch with my beloved family radio. I loved that radio."

It was the first battery-operated cableless radio in the neighborhood. As her treasured radio came crashing to the ground before her eyes, Antoine recalls that the two siblings each went through their own unique analysis paralysis.

"He was frozen looking at the broken radio thinking that he was in trouble again," she recalls. "Whereas I was looking at the radio in wonder at what was exposed to me, these beautifully colored wires on a circuit board and a speaker that could be attached to make the music play."

Fascinated, she spent nights on end trying to figure out how to put her radio back together. At the same time, she was learning about what all those wires on the inside meant.

"Looking at the connections, looking at the different colored cables, it’s also a little bit of a metaphor for my life since then," she acknowledges.

"I’ve recognized that it requires different types of people to come together in a community or on a platform where you could get connected on a topic that is of important interest to people. And you need to be able to amplify that. You need to be able to project that message or that idea in order to innovate, in order to collaborate, in order to make progress in technology."

Positive Impact

After a career spanning both North America and Europe with companies such as Polaroid, Hewlett-Packard, Shell and Microsoft (where she was CMO and COO), Antoine joined Capgemini in early 2023.

Each position, she explains, has been a strategic step forward guided by her purpose: to use technology to impact lives for the better. It’s a raison d’être that continues to be upheld in her new role as Executive Vice President and Chief Technology, Innovation & Portfolio Officer at the Paris-headquartered global leader in consulting and IT services.

"Capgemini is on a mission to ensure that we’re the business and technology transformation partner that helps bring value to other businesses and grow the world through technology," she explains.

Antoine’s ambition in the role is threefold. First up is empowering and enabling clients in Europe to be the most innovative customers around the globe.

"Innovation needs to be managed all the time and new ideas often come from outside the system," she reveals. "That’s where our industry expertise adds value and brings trust to our client relationships. We enable our clients to stay curious and open to the possibilities, and to be great pioneers who are willing to explore. We empower them to think in different forms and formats and ask ‘why not?’ instead of ‘why?’

"It will probably not take decades before innovation radically transforms us. In fact, with AI, it is already happening. We are fully dedicated to equipping our clients to be ready and to grow in this eco-digital era."

Her second area of focus is to improve diversity and inclusion in the field of technology.

"As the first female Chief Technology and Innovation Officer in the company, I am committed to championing diversity and inclusion in business and technology. I believe that diverse perspectives drive innovation and success, making it imperative to foster an inclusive environment," she says.

"My journey has been about determination and now, I aim to hold the door open for others, ensuring even more opportunities for underrepresented talent."

The final aspect is ensuring that Capgemini’s portfolio is fully embedded across its capabilities and offerings with key partners, who range from hyperscalers such as Microsoft, Google and AWS, to niche associates such as Zscaler, which works with Capgemini across the cybersecurity space.

The Power of Generative AI

Running parallel to Antoine’s key focus areas is ongoing market expansion, enabled by technology.

"We are committed to staying at the forefront of the latest technological trends and market developments to deliver cutting-edge capabilities to our clients, ensuring they remain industry leaders," she says. "Our TechnoVision 2024 Strategy identified the key tech trends for this year, and generative AI is currently one of the most complex yet important areas of our focus."

While encouraging rigorous ethical studies, Antoine emphasizes the necessity for society to embrace this technology.

"We must advance with generative AI as it promises significant value to individuals and organizations, and boosts our productivity and efficiency," she asserts.

Beyond the workplace, she sees immense potential for positive impact.

"Generative AI will enable groundbreaking solutions, such as in production with computer visioning solutions; in research with new drug discoveries and molecular models; in luxury goods with human avatars; and in the limitless possibilities of quantum computing," she predicts.

"To build confidence in AI and generative AI capabilities, we should look specifically at the outputs of AI systems for programmatic trustworthiness and identify where to keep the human in the loop, especially in light of process automation advancements.

"We must reduce bias, increase data integrity and reliability, and ensure the outputs are ethically correct. The potential is vast, and that truly excites me to create the future we want."