Éric Hazan (entrepreneur)
Éric Hazan is a French consultant, essayist, and investor. He is a former McKinsey & Company partner and has written on artificial intelligence, decision-making, and territorial economic development.
Biography
Born into a family that immigrated from Egypt to France in 1956 following the Suez Crisis, Éric Hazan graduated from HEC Paris in 1992. He began his career at McKinsey & Company, where he contributed to research on economic transformation, productivity, and the effects of digital technologies. During this time he co-authored the report for the publication of the Internet Matters at the eG8 global summit of 2011 and shortly after the report for Innovation Matters at the G8 Innovation Conference in London in 2013. He also served on the leadership committee of the McKinsey Global Institute, the firm’s economic research center. His work and public interventions focus on the impact of artificial intelligence on the economy, labor, and decision-making responsibilities.
In 2024, Éric Hazan co-founded Ardabelle Capital, an impact investment fund. He teaches digital strategy at Sciences Po and HEC Paris.
Writing and public work
Hazan has written on the economic and organizational effects of artificial intelligence, including its impact on productivity, skilled labor, and decision-making. In particular, he examines how algorithmic tools are reshaping functions traditionally associated with human expertise. His analyses also address the question of decision-making in automated environments, as well as the institutional, economic, and political arbitrations that result from these tensions. Another dimension of his work concerns the territorial effects of economic and digital transformations.
With Olivier Sibony, he co-authored Faut-il encore décider ? La décision humaine à l’ère de l’intelligence artificielle (2026), which examines the changing role of human judgment in organizations using algorithmic systems. With Frédéric Salat-Baroux, he co-authored Révolution par les territoires (2025), a book on decentralization, territorial development, and political renewal in France. The book forms part of a broader debate on territorial organization and the role of the middle classes in a context of hyperdecentralization. It received coverage in several French media outlets.
Public speaking and conferences
His public engagements focus on economic transformations linked to artificial intelligence, particularly its effects on growth and employment.
In 2018, Éric Hazan participated in the Tech for Good Summit, an initiative launched by Emmanuel Macron, alongside international technology leaders. On that occasion, he oversaw the McKinsey & Company report commissioned for the summit. He continued to contribute to the Tech for Good initiative, including during editions held remotely in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
In July 2025, he took part, alongside Pascal Canfin and Sarah Faivre, Mayor of Quingey, in the Doubs department, in the launch of La Plateforme progressiste, a platform aimed at organizing consensus-building conferences within the progressive political spectrum and operating on a project-based basis. He led the first conference, focused on France's public finance trajectory, and presented its conclusions in December 2025.
Engagement in economic development in Palestine
In 2020, he spoke at the ICEP international conference on startup development in Palestine, which was attended by Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh.
In 2023, Éric Hazan became associated with the think tank Palestine Emerging, which aims to develop a long-term reconstruction and development plan for the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
Honours
On 15 January 2025, Éric Hazan was appointed a Knight of the Legion of Honour by the Ministry of the Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty.
Books
- Éric Hazan with Olivier Sibony, Faut-il encore décider ? La décision humaine à l’ère de l’intelligence artificielle Flammarion (2026). .
- Éric Hazan with Frédéric Salat-Baroux, Révolution par les territoires, une réponse française aux défis du monde, Paris, Editions de L'Observatoire, (2025).