Ludovic François

Ludovic François, Affiliate Professor at the Marketing Department of HEC Paris, specializes in crisis management, crisis communication, economic intelligence, and influence strategy. For over 20 years, he has advised numerous executives from major corporations and mid-sized companies on handling sensitive situations, both in France and abroad. He has been involved in managing various crises as well as in designing and implementing influence strategies.

In addition, he has founded around fifteen companies in various sectors, including economic intelligence, publishing, media, and real estate. He currently leads the group he created.

He is the author of six books and numerous articles on the role of influence in economic life. Notably, he co-authored Contre-pouvoirs – de la société d’autorité à la démocratie d’influence (Ellipses, 2009) with François-Bernard Huyghe. He also co-edited Influentia: The Reference Work on Influence Strategies (Lavauzelle, 2015). Among other articles, he published “The Real Story of the Fake Story of One of Europe's Most Charismatic CEOs ” in Harvard Business Review (co-authored with Dominique Rouzies).

At HEC, he directed the Specialized Master’s programs from 2001 to 2004 and served as Deputy Director of HEC Entrepreneurs from 2004 to 2005. He has been Co-Scientific Director of the Specialized Master in Marketing Intelligence from 2007 to 2009. Since 2011, he has founded and led the Crisis Management Academy.

Ludovic François mainly teaches the following courses: “Crisis Management and Communication” and “Economic Intelligence.”

Ludovic François holds a Ph.D. in Management Sciences (Paris II Panthéon-Assas) and is accredited to supervise research (Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne). He is a graduate of HEC’s Specialized Master’s program and also holds two Master’s degrees in Management and Law.