Inside The World Of Strategic Intelligence In The Nuclear Industry

For emlyon alumna Maude Zois, that means working across departments, examining market trends, and helping senior leaders navigate challenges within the highly specialized nuclear industry. 

Currently working at Orano, Maude’s role combines strategic research with collaboration across engineering, operations, finance, and leadership teams.

“It’s a lot about analysis but also interviews and questioning everyone with knowledge,” she says.

While strategic intelligence often focuses on the future, Maude believes one thing remains central: understanding the operational realities of a business today.

“Strategy is the way to enable these operations to go on every day and to optimize it.”

Inside a strategic intelligence role

Maude works in Orano’s transport and packaging sector, and her role falls into two key aspects. 

The first is strategic analysis, where she gathers information through market interviews and data research to support annual strategic planning projects.

“It’s not just about analyzing data,” she says. “It’s also about interviewing people and extracting knowledge through discussions. That analysis helps leadership build a vision of the market and decide where to go next.”

The second key aspect of her role centers on coordination. Maude speaks with people across different parts of the business, including engineers, commercial teams, operational staff, and senior leadership. Through these discussions, she builds a broader picture of the company’s position and opportunities.

“You have to speak to everyone in the company, from operations to decision makers,” she says.

The role also requires juggling multiple priorities. 

Alongside market analysis projects and monthly performance reports, Maude spent the past several months working on the company’s annual strategic perspective report. This is a major project involving data analysis, collaboration across departments, and discussions with senior management.

“It’s very much about remaining flexible,” she says. “You have to anticipate discussions and feedback, while also managing what is urgent in the moment.”

From operations to strategy

Before joining Orano, Maude worked within the defense industry on security and safety topics, helping prevent risks such as attacks and robbery. 

However, over time, Maude found herself increasingly drawn toward the broader strategic challenges facing the company.

“I wanted to have a bigger overview of the company and its challenges,” she says.

The move into strategic intelligence allowed her to combine operational understanding with high-level decision-making, something she believes is essential within strategy roles.

“Operations is what makes a company live, and strategy is the way to enable these operations to go on every day and optimize them as well,” she explains.

Maude joined her current strategic intelligence role less than a year ago and admits the transition into both the position and the nuclear industry came with a steep learning curve.

“At first it was really hard for me,” she says. “Everyone already had a lot of experience in the team, and I came in not knowing much about the nuclear industry.”

Over time, however, she gained confidence by asking questions, even when it felt uncomfortable.

“I had to ask even random and what seemed to be dumb questions to managing directors, because I had no choice,” she says. “You have to not hesitate and just ask the question to get the knowledge.”