Today she is a Senior Vice President at CEMS Corporate Partner AlphaSights, a global leader in knowledge on demand. AlphaSights sources experts who hold exactly the information a client needs, often within hours, to help global businesses make the best decisions.
Name: Flore Loisel
Role: Senior Vice President at AlphaSights
Years at AlphaSights: 11
CEMS experience: HEC Paris and an exchange semester at LSE (2013–2014)
From CEMS to a career
It was at a careers fair while studying at LSE that Flore got talking to a CEMS alumna working at AlphaSights. The more she heard, the more the role matched what she wanted from a career. Three things drew her in: a revenue-generating role in the engine room of the business; an international environment that echoed CEMS; and the chance to take on real responsibility quickly.
Eleven years on, Flore is responsible for a large share of AlphaSights' European clients and a team of approximately 100 people.
CEMS worked out for Flore: it led her to the job she still loves, and to her husband, whom she met at AlphaSights. "We have a two-year-old son, so CEMS set me up pretty well!" she jokes.
Building confidence
The initial Associate years at AlphaSights were demanding, but transformative. "Client service builds incredible rigour and work ethic," she explains, "and it's how you build credibility with people you'll later lead, because you've done it yourself."
Cold outreach to senior executives pushed her out of her comfort zone. "I used to be quite reserved; now I can speak to anyone about anything. I've grown more resilient and far more self-assured by working through difficult situations."
Community makes the difference
Flore is candid about the demands at AlphaSights. "The work is intense, and I won't pretend otherwise, but I've always loved the pace. In eleven years, I've never once been bored," she says. "It's competitive, but never cut-throat. You're surrounded by ambitious colleagues from top-tier universities who push you and make you better."
In one of her teams, a bell hung on the wall: anyone who landed a new client rang it, and the whole floor would clap. "There's a culture of sharing wins," she says. For graduates, she explains, AlphaSights offers more than just a first job. It is a place to build relationships that will last a career and continuously encourage you to grow.
Room to stretch and to lead
Over the past year, on top of her commercial remit, Flore has taken on leadership of the London HQ. It has pushed her into less familiar territory, working with other departments on everything from HR policy and incentive design, to high-impact communications. "It has been an amazing way to stretch my skills," she says.
Development is built in for new leaders: a week-long boot camp on promotion, mentoring for first-time managers, and an executive coach for those on the VP track. "We hire people with a lot of potential," she says, "and many of us are still young, but we're given the tools and the experience to grow into capable commercial leaders."
Opting in
AlphaSights’ London office has grown fast around Flore, from about 50 when she joined, to 500-plus today. But she hasn't stayed through inertia.
"I've asked myself: is this genuinely better than what the market has to offer? The answer has always been yes. So I have actively opted in, time and time again."
Flore's advice for CEMS graduates
- Start on the sales floor. It's where you earn the credibility you'll lead with later.
- Think like an owner. Treat whatever you're trusted with as if it were your own business.
- Opt in deliberately. Keep asking whether the next few years still excite you. You do your best work when you believe in the company, its trajectory, and the people around you.
