What happens when a career refuses to follow the expected path? For Anne-Brisce Grasset, it leads from engineering and consulting to entrepreneurship in Italy, and now digital transformation and global leadership at Rexel. Her journey is a reminder that the experiences that take us off course are often the ones that shape the leaders we become.

Interviewed by Amra Zvizdić

You’ve been working at Rexel for 14 years now, holding several management positions, in various areas and you’re currently Director of Rexel’s Own Brands. In your opinion, what made Rexel a good place to thrive in your career?

I joined Rexel by chance rather than through a deliberate career plan. Fourteen years later, I can say it has been an incredibly rewarding journey.

What has kept me here is the opportunity to take on a wide range of international roles and contribute to meaningful transformation. I've worked on digital transformation, data and AI initiatives, ESG, and more recently our own-brand and global sourcing strategy. I’ve been trusted to lead change, supported by managers who encouraged me to explore new ideas and by mentors who played an important role in my development. 

Over the past few years, I've also seen a real commitment to advancing women in leadership. Today, women represent more than a third of our top management team, which is significant in what has traditionally been a male-dominated industry.We keep working on making continuous and tangible progress, which is recognized by our employees: 72 % of female employees feel that Rexel contribute to their development. Being a key stakeholder in our industry, we have to lead the way. For example, during our biennial event, Rexel Expo, gathering our partners and customers, we hosted a roundtable about how to build diversity in the construction industry. 

Another example is the round table we hosted in March on the occasion of the International Women's Day, wih our strategic suppliers and partner associations, to explore how we can build a more gender-balanced electrical industry.  We covered key topics like developing inclusive leadership, encouraging more diverse career paths, increasing the presence of women in technical roles, and exploring how to turn uncertainty into opportunity in an industry undergoing rapid change

Perhaps the one of the biggest motivations I’ve stayed on is our purpose. Knowing that my work contributes to a more sustainable future gives me a real sense of reward. That culture was recently recognised when Rexel was named one of the Financial Times' Best Employers in Europe 2026, an achievement that genuinely reflects our commitment to our people.

Your career has crossed engineering, consulting, entrepreneurship, digital transformation, and now executive leadership.  What has this evolution shown you about professional and personal growth, especially recognising when it is time to take the next step?

My career has been anything but linear. In France, there’s often an expectation that you follow a well-defined path. You attend a top engineering or business school, join a good company and steadily climb the corporate ladder. My journey took a very different direction.

I began in engineering before moving into consulting. Then, when my husband was offered a role in Italy, we decided to move. Suddenly, my qualifications meant very little, I didn't speak Italian, and I had two young children. I had to start again. Rather than seeing that as a setback, I reinvented myself. I founded a translation business, connecting clients with professional translators, and built a portfolio that included companies such as La Redoute and SNCF.

At the time, I wasn't particularly proud of that experience because it didn't fit the traditional image of a successful engineering career. That changed when, upon returning to France, a Swedish manager told me it was the most impressive part of my CV. You can reinvent yourself at any stage, and that mindset has shaped everything I've done at Rexel. It's also the advice I give young women today, to trust their abilities, stay curious, and to stop being afraid to take an unconventional route.

You can reinvent yourself at any stage, and that mindset has shaped everything I’ve done at Rexel.

Data is often described as the fuel of modern business, yet numbers alone rarely change organisations. What have you learned about the importance of the human dimension, both internally and externally, in achieving digital transformation that goes beyond dashboards or KPIs?

I've worked in data and digital transformation for more than 15 years, long before those terms became buzzworthy. My career has included everything from e-commerce and customer relationship management to product management, data science and digital transformation. At Rexel, I helped build our global Data & Digital Factory, bringing together teams across countries and business units.

While the technical challenges were significant, I quickly realised that technology is sometimes not the hardest part. The real challenge is people. Too often, organisations focus on building sophisticated dashboards, algorithms, or digital tools without asking a simple question: why are we creating them? A predictive model may identify customers who are likely to leave, but it only creates value if the sales teams trust the insight and act on it.

In my teams, we deliberately combined data scientists with colleagues who had worked in sales, logistics and operations. They understood our customers, our products and the realities of the business, helping to translate technical solutions into practical tools that people were willing to adopt. Dashboards alone are never enough. Data should never replace human judgement. It should strengthen it. The most successful organisations are those that combine analytical excellence with trust, collaboration and a deep understanding of people.

Too often, organisations focus on building sophisticated dashboards, algorithms, or digital tools without asking a simple question: why are we creating them?

Having worked across countries, industries, and functions, have you noticed any leadership qualities that translate universally, regardless of culture or sector?

The most important thing is the willingness to keep learning. Throughout my career, I’ve constantly had to step into new areas where I was not the expert. When I took responsibility for Rexel's own-brand business, I had to learn a completely new field. The key is not to arrive as a leader who knows everything, but to recognise the expertise of your team and learn from them.

This applies to both technical knowledge and cultural understanding. Having led teams in the United States and China, I’ve learned the importance of staying open-minded and not assuming that one way of working is universal. Understanding people's backgrounds and cultures is essential.

Another essential quality is adaptability. The world, businesses and teams are constantly changing, so leaders must be able to evolve.

Finally, leaders must be able to make decisions. Good decisions come from three places: data, experience and values. Data provides insight, experience builds intuition, and values ensure that decisions remain aligned with what you believe is right. When people see consistency and integrity in a leader, they trust and follow them.

You founded and continued to champion women's networks within Rexel with the WiRE: Women in Rexel network. Looking back, what conversation about women's leadership do you think has changed the most over the past decade, and what conversation still isn't happening enough?

Over the past decade, I think the biggest change has been that the conversation around women's leadership has become much more visible and much more action-oriented. Ten years ago, diversity was often discussed as an ambition. Today, companies are increasingly recognising that they need to be intentional if they want change to happen.

The Rexel Global Women Leaders Network, WiRE: Women in Rexel, which started as a small initiative, has grown into an established network recognised across the organisation. Its purpose is not only to connect around 200 women leaders across 17 markets, but also to give visibility and opportunities to emerging female talent.

One of the things I am particularly proud of is creating opportunities for young women to be exposed to senior leaders. Through interviews, webinars and events, they develop confidence, showcase their abilities and become more visible. This helps us identify future leaders because talent needs to be seen in order to be developed.

However, there is still much more to do. In industries like construction and electrical distribution, women remain significantly underrepresented. We need to go beyond discussions and actively create pathways for women to enter and progress in these sectors.

As a Member of WIL Europe, you are surrounded by accomplished women from very different industries. What is something you've learned from women outside your own sector that has influenced the way you lead?

One thing my career has taught me is that, regardless of the industry, many leadership challenges are universal. Through WIL Europe and other networks, I’ve realised that women across sectors often face similar challenges, even in industries that appear very different.

It has also shown me that there’s no single model of successful leadership. Some women lead by being very direct, others through quiet influence or strategic thinking. The important thing is not to fit a predefined image of a leader, but to understand your own strengths and have the confidence to lead authentically.

Another lesson I have taken from these communities is the importance of networks. I encourage my teams, both women and men, to build networks beyond their immediate roles and countries. Your network can come from anywhere: colleagues, alumni, communities or even unexpected personal connections.

The important thing is not to fit a predefined image of a leader, but to understand your own strengths and have the confidence to lead authentically.  

If we were having this conversation ten years from now, what change would you most like to see in the world of technology and leadership, and what gives you confidence that it can happen?

I would hope to see an even greater recognition that successful careers do not always follow a straight line. This is something I’ve seen more openly embraced in the US, where people often return to education, change direction or reinvent themselves throughout their careers. I hope this mindset continues to grow in Europe as well, because organisations benefit from people with diverse experiences and perspectives.

Looking specifically at women in leadership, I hope that women will spend less energy proving that they belong in senior positions and more energy focusing on leading and creating impact. Even today, women in technical and industrial sectors can still face questions about their legitimacy that their male counterparts often don’t.

What gives me confidence is that change is already happening. Companies are becoming more intentional about diversity, and at Rexel we have seen this commitment translate into concrete actions and measurable progress.