Decision making

I regularly develop, supervise, review or clean up financial models, be it at the project level or at the corporate one.

I can also supervise demand studies carried out by external consultants, which I have done repeatedly, especially in the tollroad and airport sectors.

With the fast spread of open source software, one can build bespoke applications that fit the exact need of the business. I apply my knowledge of R and Python to deploy such applications and support the decision-making process.

Overall, no proper decision can be made without financial and economic modelling. The challenge is twofold:

• efficiency, by spending the right amount of time with respect to a clear and specific objective, and keeping Occam's razor constantly in mind

• uncertainty, with the required critical distance towards any kind of forecasting, and the focus on sensitivity tests and what-if scenarios.

These two challenges guide my approach to modelling and forecasting.

For example, I encourage the use of Rough Orders of Magnitude models for upcoming opportunities, in order to efficiently check the project's economic feasibility at an early stage.

Infrastructure projects pertain to the category of low-frequency decisions that cannot rely as strongly on precedents as repeat business would. As a consequence, they have to be analysed on a per case basis.

I can prepare or supervise investment cases for investors and operators. I rely on my past experience in that area, which made me well aware of decision-makers' expectations.

One particular challenge is the optimal allocation of limited resources. In that regard, I set up tools to help organisations make these hard choices. For example, I have developed an online application that scores and monitors the portfolio of projects against multiple dimensions.

Infrastructure projects are complex by nature, involving many stakeholders with potentially conflicting interests.

Moreover, because they often rely on the delegation of specific powers by public authorities, politics will play an important part.

The structuring of such projects requires a blend of technical, legal, financial, political, reputational, environmental, etc. considerations. With my generalist background, I have participated in several such multidisciplinary ventures, be it in developed (Germany, US, France) or emerging countries (Philippines, Mexico). Based on that experience, I can bring the realism test to the various proposals on the table.

I can also participate in the definition and negotiation of partnerships' and shareholders' agreements (experience in telecom towers, airports, tollroads, water), as well as concession agreements with public authorities (experience in airports, water, tollroads).