For this sixth episode of SPOKE ABOUT, Jérôme Duchamps welcomes Leïla Salimi, Communications Director at BRED Banque Populaire and a member of its executive committee. Hers is a rare vantage point: a brand-side leader rolling out AI at scale inside a bank, steering its agencies, and openly standing behind fully AI-generated campaigns. Her message fits in one sentence: automate, yes, but without giving up creativity, boldness and whatever makes our work singular.
Communications from France to Asia and the Pacific
BRED is a far more international bank than its image suggests. Leïla Salimi runs communications stretching from mainland France to Asia and the Pacific, and reflects on the paradox of a brand that is strong at home yet still little known abroad.
She also describes the daily reality of a communications director and what changes when you join the executive committee: a seat at the table where decisions are made, and a different kind of responsibility for the brand.
"Artificial Intelligence, Artificial Communication": Standing Out in the Noise
BRED's new brand platform, built in alignment with Banque Populaire and the agency Rosa Paris, raises a question that has become central: how do you stand out in a saturated content stream, at the exact moment AI lets everyone produce more of it?
The episode's formula captures the risk: push artificial intelligence far enough and you quickly get artificial communication — the kind that ticks every box but no longer says anything distinctive.
From ChatGPT to BREDGPT: Industrializing Secure Usage
In a bank, data confidentiality is not negotiable. So BRED deployed BREDGPT, its internal assistant, to give employees a secure way to use AI rather than leaving everyone to improvise with consumer tools.
Leïla Salimi describes the trajectory honestly: an initial wow effect, followed by the first disappointments. And the end of a stubborn myth, that of "ready to publish" content: AI produces a starting point, not a finished deliverable.
AI Factory, Ambassadors and Concrete Use Cases
AI has entered every line of business in the bank, well beyond communications — all the way to the trading floor. To structure that adoption, BRED relies on an AI Factory, a network of ambassadors and concrete use cases rather than grand statements.
The real obstacles remain: training, uneven appetite across profiles, and governance — right up to the executive committee. Leïla Salimi also mentions a side effect visible across the market: the return of junior profiles in consulting firms.
Tomorrow, an AI Agent for Everyone: Who Is Accountable?
If every employee soon has their own AI agent, accountability becomes the central question. Who validates, who signs off, who answers for what is produced and published? In a sector as regulated as banking, the answer cannot stay vague.
This is also where you see what humans will always do better than machines: arbitrating, providing context, and owning a decision.
Madagascar: A 100% AI Campaign in 15 Days
The most concrete example of the episode: a campaign for Madagascar produced entirely with AI, in fifteen days. A timeline and a cost out of reach for conventional production.
The most interesting part is not the technical feat but the stance: BRED chose to stand behind the 100% AI approach, with an explicit mention on the posters. Leïla Salimi shares the public's reaction, and announces an upcoming awareness campaign built on the same principle.
When Everyone Has the Same Tools, What Makes the Difference?
This question runs through the whole episode. If every brand and every agency has access to the same models, technology stops being a competitive advantage. What differentiates then goes back to the idea, the point of view, the judgment and the boldness.
BRED's campaign targeting young customers against neobanks illustrates the point well: standing out is not decided by the tool, but by the territory you choose to own.
What Brands Now Expect from Their Agencies
The relationship with agencies is shifting. On the brand side, expectations are moving: less time spent on execution, more value on thinking and differentiation. The episode also tackles a sensitive and still unsettled topic: actors, image rights and AI.
Leïla Salimi's advice to agencies is direct: launch an AI practice, train seriously, and use AI for quality control on deliverables too. To juniors joining a brand-side team, she points out that curiosity and critical thinking matter as much as tool proficiency.
Giving Humans Their Place Back
The thread running through the episode: the real turning point of AI may not be technological, but human. Technology opens new possibilities; the ideas and the choices remain ours.
A candid, concrete conversation about what automation changes — and what it must not change.
Listen to the Episode
Find this sixth episode of SPOKE ABOUT (53 minutes, in French) in audio and video format:
In Summary
In the sixth episode of SPOKE ABOUT, Leïla Salimi, Communications Director at BRED Banque Populaire and a member of its executive committee, recounts the rollout of AI inside a major bank: BREDGPT for secure internal use, an AI Factory and a network of ambassadors to drive adoption, and a 100% AI Madagascar campaign produced in fifteen days and openly labeled as such on the posters. She warns about the risk of "artificial communication" in a saturated stream, points out that AI delivers a starting point rather than ready-to-publish content, and argues that differentiation now rests on the idea, judgment and boldness — not on the tool.
FAQ
Who is Leïla Salimi?
Leïla Salimi is Communications Director at BRED Banque Populaire and a member of its executive committee. She leads the group's communications from mainland France to Asia and the Pacific.
What is BREDGPT?
BREDGPT is BRED's internal AI assistant. It lets employees use generative AI within a secure framework suited to banking confidentiality requirements, instead of relying on consumer tools.
Does a 100% AI campaign actually work?
BRED produced a campaign for Madagascar entirely with AI in fifteen days, and chose to state it explicitly on the posters. An upcoming awareness campaign is set to follow the same principle.
Is AI replacing agencies?
No, but it shifts expectations. Execution compresses, and value concentrates on the idea and on differentiation. Leïla Salimi's advice to agencies is to launch an AI practice and to use AI for quality control on deliverables as well.
What do humans still do better than AI?
Arbitrating, providing context and owning a decision. When everyone has the same tools, it is the idea, the point of view, the judgment and the boldness that make the difference.
And you — where do you draw the line between what you automate and what you keep human? Let's talk about it.