For many, Club Med means vacation, happiness, and letting go. But behind the scenes, it's an operational machine of rare complexity, where company culture is the glue that holds multicultural teams together. That culture, historically top-down and embodied by the iconic "Village Chief", needed to evolve.

The challenge: squaring the managerial circle

The assessment from the HR teams was clear: the world has changed, and so have the expectations of new generations. The "old-school" approach to management was no longer enough. To meet this challenge, the training teams designed an ambitious model: the "Leadership Compass." This framework defines four key postures for the manager of tomorrow: Strategist, Authentic, Influencer, and Coach.

But having a model on paper is one thing; bringing it to life in the field is another, as Vincent Derwael, Manager Training Lead, explains:

"We had a lot of circles. In the 2000s, we added squares to bring structure, and today we're trying to fit those squares back into the circles."
Vincent Derwael, Manager Training Lead

The deployment challenge was enormous. They needed to reach frontline population, often consumed by day-to-day operations and with very little time to spare. Émilie Chavanon, Digital Learning Manager, points to the difficulty of capturing these managers' attention:

"Our managers are in the field, on Resort. They have very limited time for training, because priority always goes to operations and to guests. On top of that, they often feel a kind of 'tool overload' from the sheer number of digital platforms."
Émilie Chavanon, Digital Learning Manager

The goal, then, was to find a way to train managers without pulling them out of their day-to-day, while also breaking the isolation of the manager. A vision championed from start to finish by the L&D leadership.

The solution: Blify, the AI agent built right into "the flow of work"

This is where Blify comes in. Rather than imposing an external LMS that requires the effort of logging in, Club Med chose to embed the experience directly into Microsoft Teams, turning a communication channel into an intelligent training platform.

One of the solution's greatest strengths was its ability to ingest Club Med's own proprietary framework. The AI doesn't speak a generic language, it speaks "G.O" and "G.E," and it knows the ins and outs of the "Leadership Compass."

"What allowed us to move from 'DIY' experimentation with ChatGPT to a structured, robust rollout was Blify's ability to integrate into our existing tools and adapt to our culture."
Émilie Chavanon, Digital Learning Manager

Beyond theory, Blify lets managers practice difficult conversations (corrective feedback, performance reviews) through immersive simulations with an AI avatar. Users get instant feedback on their approach, without the pressure of being watched.

"It's hands-on and practical. Where in-person training allows for role-play, Blify lets you do it instantly, ten minutes before the real conversation, without the pressure of an audience."
Vincent Derwael, Manager Training Lead

From pilot to scale

The first chapter took the form of a targeted pilot, rolled out to around fifty managers. Within a few months, the competency framework had been transformed into interactive learning journeys, available 24/7, right in the manager's pocket.

The pilot was conclusive enough to win over internal stakeholders, including after a benchmark led by the Club Med teams themselves. The result: the group chose to renew the partnership ahead of schedule, and, more importantly, to significantly expand its scope, from roughly fifty managers to nearly 1,500 "potential" managers around the world.

This shift to scale comes with a new dedicated manager journey, built posture by posture around the Leadership Compass. True to its co-creation philosophy, Blify doesn't deliver a generic AI solution: the AI training agent is configured from Club Med's own internal content, so the AI truly speaks the language of the house.

The rollout happens in waves, in sync with Resort openings. Summer 2026 marks a key milestone with the launch in the mountain villages, integrated into a broader program combining a launch webinar with on-the-ground support. To reflect the group's diversity, with up to 25 nationalities in a single village, the experience launches in French and English, with Spanish and Portuguese planned to support the Latin American and Brazilian communities.

This step change has been fueled by a continuous improvement loop between the two teams: pre- and post-journey skills assessments, AI agents created independently on the Club Med side, and refined role-play scenarios. Each building block designed to put the learner experience at the center.

For Club Med, Blify doesn't replace in-person training, the human heart of the brand's DNA, but acts as a powerful lever to ensure pedagogical continuity on a global scale.

"At Club Med, we're working to make training more accessible and better anchored in everyday work. With Blify, we're exploring an 'in the flow of work' approach embedded in Teams. After an initial test, we're now expanding its use."
Majid Kiani, Head of Training at Club Med

With this expanded partnership, Club Med proves that a 75-year-old company can be at the forefront of AI to take care of its people, and, by extension, its guests.

Going further

Want to go behind the scenes of this project? Watch the full testimonial and the conversation with Michel Diaz in the webinar co-hosted with Elearning Letter and the Club Med teams.