Sylvain Bureau PhD from the Ecole Polytechnique (best thesis award in 2007), is a graduate of the Ecole Normale Supérieure Paris Saclay in economics. He co-founded the Art Thinking Collective and the Jean-Baptiste Say Institute at ESCP.

Visiting scholar at Duke University, UC Berkeley and the City University of New York, his work characterizes the similarities of creative practices in the worlds of science, art and business. He has published numerous scientific articles, which have been frequently featured in the media (Financial Times, Forbes Japan, France Culture, Huffington Post, Harvard Business Review France, Les Echos, Usbek & Rica...). Sylvain also co-authored Free Your Pitch (Pearson).

Based on his research, Sylvain developed Art Thinking. He teaches this method through the Improbable seminar in France (ESCP, Ecole Polytechnique, Centrale Supélec, 42, Ecole de Guerre...) and abroad (Stanford, HEC Montreal, University of Oulu, Catholic University of Milan...) in collaboration with artists and cultural institutions (in particular with the Centre Pompidou and the Louvre Museum). The participants trained by Sylvain are very often executives and engineers (Airbus Defence & Space, BPCE Group, CNES, EDF, Daher, Galeries Lafayette, Orange, Sacem...).

To improve his teaching practices, Sylvain has taken two courses on online and offline teaching at Harvard Business School (in 2009 and 2020) and at the International Teacher Program (2017 and 2018). In 2021, the Improbable seminar was listed among the top 10 pedagogical innovations worldwide

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133 publications

Academic Articles

2023

DOUSARD, C., J. BILLION, J. RENOUF, S. BUREAU

Barefoot entrepreneurs trapped in liminal spaces: the case of homeless youths in New York City.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, 1-18

Academic Articles

2023

MASSEY, M., S. BUREAU, P. NACCACHE

Comment les organisations pirates construisent-elles leur légitimité ?

REVUE FRANCAISE DE GESTION, Vol. 5 and N°312, 55-74

Other Intellectual Contributions

2023

BUREAU, S

L'économie informelle nuit-elle à l'économie formelle

L'ECONEWS

Conference Presentations

2022

BUREAU, S., A. WHITAKER

Art Thinking: A non-client centric agile method

Academy of Management (AOM)

Media

2022

BUREAU, S., Y. AMSALLEM

La vie n'est pas une start-up

Usbek & Rica

Academic Articles

2021

GABAY-MARIANI, L., R. BUQUET, S. BUREAU

Le piège du pitch ou l’ambivalente performance d’un discours spectaculaire

ENTREPRENDRE ET INNOVER, 51, 43-56

Academic Articles

2020

BUREAU, S.

Le COVID-19: symptôme d'une société de la certitude

LIBELLIO D'AEGIS (LE), Vol. 16, pp. 19-30

Other Intellectual Contributions

2020

BUREAU, S

Economie grise : quand la crise du Covid-19 stimule l'innovation

L'ECONEWS, https://www.pourleco.com/futur-tech/economie-grise-quand-la-crise-du-covid-19-stimule-linnovation

Academic Articles

2019

BUREAU, S.

Art Thinking : une méthode pour créer de l'improbable avec certitude

ENTREPRENDRE ET INNOVER, Vol 3-4, 88-103

Academic Articles

2019

BYRNE, J., H. JARRODI, S. BUREAU

A political ideology lens on social entrepreneurship motivations

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, 31 (7-8), 583-604