Laurent Pytel

Interim executive specializing in Product & Technology organizations, I work with software publishers, scale-ups, and companies undergoing transformation on high-stakes assignments: • Interim CPTO / CTO: operational leadership of Product & Tech, team structuring, priorities, and roadmap management. • R&D & Product structuring: setting up processes, rituals, and organization to gain clarity, delivery speed, and quality. • SaaS transformation: supporting software publishers in their transition from on-premise to SaaS (architecture, delivery, go-to-market). • Technology turnaround: diagnosing and rebuilding R&D organizations in difficulty (technical debt, Product/Tech misalignment, loss of velocity). • R&D & Product governance: structuring governance, KPIs, steering committees, and decision-making processes between Product, Tech, and Business. • AI-native development pipeline design: designing and implementing development pipelines integrating AI at the core of the product cycle. • Crisis management & operational continuity

Member of the Executive Committee, leading both Product and Technology. Structured and managed the R&D organization (22 people) and Product team (5 people). Defined and drove the roadmap for a SaaS HR platform built on Oracle and Vue.js. Aligned Product, Technology, Marketing, and Sales priorities to improve release clarity and execution.

Executive Committee member with a dual role as Group CTO and Director of a new software publishing business unit. Set up and led a transversal R&D organization serving multiple business entities. Drove IS urbanization and oversaw infrastructure across internal data centers and cloud environments. Created and developed a business unit dedicated to SaaS solutions in ECM, archiving, and digital document workflows. Managed a broad scope including Product, R&D, Operations, Integration, Marketing, Infrastructure, and Security.

Led an international R&D organization of approximately 450 people. Designed a new operating model to better separate software integration activities from software publishing activities. Standardized roadmaps, tools, and technologies across multiple product lines. Introduced DevOps practices, test automation, and more industrialized development environments. Contributed to the digital transformation of the historical product portfolio. Participated in IT due diligence as part of the Lombard Risk acquisition. Helped shape the vision for a marketplace and business component store.

Led a Product Management team of 10 people, working closely with an R&D organization of around 350 people. Structured Product Manager roles, responsibilities, and processes. Drove product roadmaps, R&D budgets, and user club interactions. Defined the business and technical architecture of a new SaaS health solution based on microservices. Supported the company’s agile transformation.

Co-founded Wyde, a software company focused on insurance solutions. Built, structured, and led Product, R&D, and IT over nearly 18 years. Defined product strategy, roadmaps, and budgets. Architected Wynsure, an internationally recognized solution featured in the Gartner Magic Quadrant. Contributed directly to the company’s growth from 5 to 250 employees and to revenue reaching $30M. Led complex programs combining product innovation, integration, and co-construction with major clients. Helped win a Tier 1 US client in a highly demanding benchmark context with strong volume and performance requirements. Created a center of excellence in Bangalore and relocated testing and maintenance functions. Gradually transformed the product portfolio to address digital challenges: UX/UI, REST APIs, front-end modernization. Following Wyde’s acquisition by Mphasis in 2011, continued the journey within an international group environment.

Contributed to the redesign of Crédit Lyonnais’ information system. Built a business component framework for retail banking.

Civil military service in University IT organization

Research Publication – CRAI (CNRS / École d’Architecture de Nancy) Co-author of “Graffiti: A Computer-Aided Construction Process Knowledge-Based System”, published in Computer-Aided Civil and Infrastructure Engineering (Vol. 7, No. 1, 1992). Designed a knowledge-based system to model and optimize construction processes Early application of AI concepts (rule-based systems) to engineering workflows Contributed to bridging architecture, engineering, and computer science