
Sylvain Bureau explores the similarities between creative practices in the worlds of science, art, and business. He co-founded the Art Thinking Collective and the Jean-Baptiste Say Institute at ESCP. His work has led to numerous academic articles, which have frequently been featured in the media (Financial Times, Forbes Japan, France Culture, Huffington Post, Harvard Business Review France, Les Échos, Usbek & Rica). Sylvain also co-authored Free Your Pitch (Pearson).
Building on his research, Sylvain developed Art Thinking, a method he teaches through the Improbable seminar in France (ESCP, École Polytechnique, CentraleSupélec, 42, École de Guerre) and abroad (Stanford, HEC Montréal, University of Oulu, Catholic University of Milan) in collaboration with artists and cultural institutions, particularly the Centre Pompidou and the Louvre Museum. The participants trained by Sylvain are often executives and engineers from organisations such as Airbus Defence & Space, BPCE Group, CNES, EDF, Daher, Galeries Lafayette, Orange, and Sacem.
To enhance his teaching practices, Sylvain has completed two courses on online and offline teaching at Harvard Business School (in 2009 and 2020) and the International Teacher Program (2017 and 2018). In 2021, the Improbable seminar was recognised as one of the top 10 pedagogical innovations worldwide.
Sylvain holds a PhD from École Polytechnique (recipient of the best thesis award in 2007) and is a graduate of École Normale Supérieure Paris-Saclay in economics. He has also been a visiting scholar at Duke University, UC Berkeley, and the City University of New York.
Academic Articles
2024
Enseigner l’Anthropocène par les imaginaires.
REVUE FRANCAISE DE GESTION, 315 (2), 207-225
Conference Presentations
2024
Imagining the improbable when the probable becomes unacceptable. Using an art-based pedagogy to teach the Anthropocene.
Academy of Management (AOM)
Conference Presentations
2024
Critical Thinking: A must have to deal with Gen AI and the Climate Crisis
European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD)
Conference Presentations
2024
Using Arts for Mobilising Impact in Higher Management Education
United Nations
ESCP Impact Papers
2024
Regaining control in troubled times: Art Thinking as a method in a PUCA world
ESCP Impact Papers, 2024-19-EN
ESCP Impact Papers
2024
Beyond entrepreneurial chaos: Establishing company principles through the plasticity method
ESCP Impact Papers, 2024-24-EN
Media
2024
Démultiplier le potentiel de l’IA grâce l’intelligence artistique
FORBES
Academic Articles
2023
Barefoot entrepreneurs trapped in liminal spaces: the case of homeless youths in New York City.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, 1-18
Academic Articles
2023
Comment les organisations pirates construisent-elles leur légitimité ?
REVUE FRANCAISE DE GESTION, Vol. 5 and N°312, 55-74
Other Intellectual Contributions
2023
L'économie informelle nuit-elle à l'économie formelle
L'ECONEWS