Q &A
An IT executive shows how technology can support corporate creativity.
You work for one of the most creative companies in the world. How would you describe Cirque du Soleil’s approach to innovation?
Our innovation is not the result of a few isolated actions. It’s part of our DNA. We challenge ourselves to never do the same thing twice. We’re constantly trying to not just push the limits of what we already do, but create new spaces. From the very beginning of our journey more than 35 years ago, the idea was to re-invent the concept of the circus itself, and we continue to do that as we transform into a global leader in live entertainment.
Another thing we do well is approach innovation with a multidisciplinary perspective. Innovation is everywhere in this organization. When teams come together to work on specific assignments, they include creative people, tech people and business development people, all working together with a very hands-on approach. We regularly do idea-thons or hackathons and then put teams together to make some of these new ideas come to life.
You have said that creativity and innovation are often the result of constraints. Please elaborate.
It’s great to have a blank slate, but in many cases the best solutions happen because of constraints — whether they be physical or resource-related. For example, we have had to reinvent our shows for smaller big-tops to tour new countries, or move traditional big-top shows into arenas. All of a sudden, the physical space becomes a constraint and you have to reinvent how you think about things. At first, certain things seem impossible and it forces you to use that other part of your brain to rethink how you do things.
In recent years Cirque du Soleil has switched from being a ‘circus business’ to being a ‘global entertainment business’. Tell us more about this shift.
After 35 years of building a circus-arts ecosystem, we have now spread our wings and are exploring live entertainment more broadly. This has led to new directions for us as well as to the possibility to develop new markets.
For instance, we’ve opened a new resident show in China, and we’ve toured India for the first time. We’ve also done some acquisitions. We recently acquired The Works Entertainment, a world-class creative and production company known for The Illusionists franchise and other variety shows. That deal was our third acquisition: we acquired Blue Man Group in 2017 and Vstar Entertainment Group in 2018. From a very strong foundation, we have been expanding beyond the circus arts to achieve our aspirations in global live entertainment. It’s part of our mission to invoke the imagination, provoke the senses and evoke the emotions of people around the world through creativity and innovation.
As the Head of IT at Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group, what keeps you awake at night?
The main thing that keeps me up is that famous old adage that ‘the show must go on’. In our case, ‘the show’ is literally our core business, and more and more of our show operations rely on IT infrastructure and platforms. Every day we have shows running around the world in different countries and time zones, and they all rely on our network and all the software running behind the scenes. This includes everything from the physical infrastructure all the way through to cybersecurity concerns — an area in which we continue to invest. So my first priority, always, is to ensure that all of these daily operations run efficiently.
In addition, it’s important for me to think about how technology can have an even bigger and broader impact on our business. So, yes, my team provides the infrastructure and the software, but increasingly we are working with different partners within Cirque to optimize processes — and sometimes, even reinvent them. That, to me, is critical to our long-term vision of helping the organization reach its ambitions.
Could you talk a bit about finding an optimal balance between process optimization and process transformation? Clearly, today’s organizations need to be doing both.
The key is to do both at the same time. There are a lot of new technologies available that can provide quick wins; new developments such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and ‘Low-code Platforms’, where more and more employees can develop their own software and mini applications. As the technology landscape continues to evolve rapidly, part of our role is to separate industry buzzwords from real business value. There are a lot more opportunities and more resources available to achieve quick and continuous process optimization. This is where you can look for those quick wins. For instance, you can reduce manual work and free up some of people’s time, while making them more efficient.
On a slightly different time horizon, it’s important to think about reinventing your processes and, again, technology can be part of the answer. For example, in our casting business, we are constantly recruiting new artists. As you can imagine, as we’ve been growing and going global, it’s been very important to continue to locate the best performers from around the world. On top of all of the relationships we have built in the business, we’ve added a digital ecosystem where people can submit applications that are scanned and sorted, creating a huge video library of potential performers. It’s all about trying to rethink things from scratch
It’s great to have a blank slate, but in many cases the best solutions happen because of constraints.
and asking, ‘With the technology that is now available, how can we do this even better?’
Who are some of the main consumers of IT at your company?
In terms of corporate clients, we serve all areas of the business, from the touring shows to our corporate finance team. We also serve some unique areas where perhaps you wouldn’t expect as much innovation and technology — areas like casting, which I mentioned, and even the costume department, which has been very innovative. Every single costume we use is custom made to fit an individual artist, so this team has to be as efficient as humanly possible. They are using new fabric technology, scanners and 3D software to improve quality and reduce timelines. That’s another example of process transformation. We’ve completely re-thought how to create new patterns and costumes more quickly using new tools.
In addition to corporate software needs, we also face the new reality that every one of our employees is now a savvy IT consumer. At home, they set up their own Wi-fi networks, they have their smartphones, they install apps — so they expect a lot as consumers. And now they are increasingly able to create content and develop apps themselves. That is something we are trying to embrace and collaborate with them on. It really changes the entire mindset around IT, from being a small department to enabling a lot more innovation and creativity around the company, in a coordinated fashion.
As you globalize, the size of your audience is clearly going to grow. Are younger people Millennials and even younger than that on your radar?
Absolutely. That’s a key area that we continue to focus on as part of our global diversification. In terms of very young audiences, as I mentioned, we acquired V-star Entertainment Group, which has partnerships with brands like PAW Patrol that have been very successful with a young family audience, which is a new segment for us. Across the portfolio, we are making sure we develop content to reach new audiences, including Millennials.
When you graduated from the Rotman School, did you ever dream you’d be working for Cirque de Soleil one day?
I don’t! Although, if you told me I would be working with a high-growth, creative company in the technology space, that would have made sense. Diversification has been a key theme in my career. I’ve really tried to explore different company sizes and industries, but always with some connection to strategy, technology and entrepreneurship. As Steve Jobs said in his 2005 Stanford commencement speech, “you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future”. Twenty years after graduating from Rotman (gasp!), I feel like the dots are connecting and that I can really make a difference. That’s a great feeling.
Pierre-luc Bisaillon (Rotman MBA ‘01) is Chief Information Officer at Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group.
Part of our role is to separate industry buzzwords from real business value.