We are pleased to introduce our valued member, Ludovic Sabot, General Manager of WATT Design & Build USA.
After 10 years in the Media industry and 10 years in Sustainability & Environment, he decided to start a new professional life in the enthralling Hospitality industry. After working for Bragard USA – a worldwide iconic brand in premium uniforms – as General Manager, and for Christofle as Director of Hospitality & Interior Design, North America – providing premium silverware – he is starting a new job at Watt Design & Build as General Manager for North America.
We invite you to get to know Ludovic through the Q&A below, where he shares insights into the values that drive him, the experiences that have shaped him, and the work he’s doing.
What has been your biggest professional achievement?
I would say creating my own company in 2009, dedicated to renewable energy and efficiency energy. Starting from scratch, the entrepreneurship experience is quite a big challenge and emotionnal rollercoaster ride but also a strong accelerator to gain new skills and understand better what profitability really means.
What is the biggest career challenge you’ve had to overcome?
My first management experience abroad. Coming from Paris, I moved to Montevideo, Uruguay for 1 year and Buenos Aires, Argentina for 4 years to become the VP Sales & Marketing in charge of Latin America at Agence France Presse (also called #AFP, one of the 3 major world press agencies). Covering 22 bureaux, managing local Sales Rep (from different nationalities, speaking Spanish, English and Brazilian), launching new rich media content and making new deals with major Internet portals (MSN, Yahoo Latino, Terra, etc.). When I accepted this new job, my “mission” was both crystal-clear and risky: halt the persistent decline in sales, rebuild the Mkt & Sales strategy, take back control of the region OR shut the activity for ever !
What do you love most about your job?
The diversity of the projects on which I’m working. My job is to rethink, design and create new spaces for offices, Retail stores and Hospitality spaces. And also manage the brand and image of companies through their real estate. Our motto is to “make your space come true”. Our added value and main goal is to match creativity with reality. I love working with this mix of creative people (designers, architects) and with rational, meticulous people (engineers, project managers).
What is a project you’re working on right now and why is it meaningful to you?
We’re rethinking two meetings rooms for a leader in the fragrance and flavor industry. For their new offices, this client wants something out of the box, not the typical corporate offices. With both a wow effect expected and a limited budget required, very challenging but also very exciting because on one hand we want our designers to be very creative and in line with the flagrance environment and Chelsea vibes and on the other hand, we need to find solutions and materials that fit our limited budget.
If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be? Why?
I would love to collaborate with a famous Chef and help him/her to imagine and create a new restaurant or a new bar, with a mix of luxury, innovation, audacity and unbridled creativity. And make this place the new place to be in New York, Miami, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco or Las Vegas !
How do you define success?
Success for me often includes some harmony between achievement and well‑being — having both something to strive for and space to enjoy what you’ve built.
What professional advice do you live by?
1. Keep learning, always. Skills age fast. Curiosity doesn’t.
2. Focus on outcomes, not activity. Being busy is not the same as being effective.
3. Relationships matter as much as skills. Your network, reputation, and ability to work well with others often influence opportunities more than raw expertise. Be someone people trust to deliver and communicate clearly.
4. Know your values — and protect them. If you don’t define your own boundaries and principles, your environment will define them for you. Success is sustainable only when it aligns with who you want to be.
What are your goals for the next few months?
My goals are to meet a maximum of people having a new space planning project and help them to make their project come true.
What advice would you give to your younger self/someone just getting started in your industry?
Be curious, be enthusiastic, be flexible learn from the others and from your own mistakes.
What is a dream that you want to make come true one day?
One of my dreams is to create and manage my own Art hotel, a place that offers true hospitality with art, elegance and warmth. Cozy place, not too luxurious but audacious and feeling good. Both for business or leisure.
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