Cambodia & French Tech: Jannine Sem, the Art of Connecting Worlds

Having moved to Cambodia in 2015 in search of her Khmer roots, Jannine Sem has built her career on two pillars: data and people. Today Head of People & Culture at SBI APAC and a Board Member of La French Tech Phnom Penh, she describes herself as a bridge-builder between French startups and the local ecosystem. She spoke to Cambodge Mag about her journey — an unconventional career path and a deep attachment to the country she has chosen to call home.

Jannine Sem : I love taking part in initiatives that bring entrepreneurs together, encourage exchange, and help our ecosystem grow

Can you introduce yourself in a few words?

My name is Jannine Sem, I'm almost 45, and I've been living in Phnom Penh since 2015 with my partner and our son, who's about to turn 13.

I'm of Cambodian origin. My father was a factory worker, my mother a self-employed seamstress. I grew up in the Île-de-France region, in a town of about 16,000 people where the Khmer community was small, but where cultural diversity was naturally part of everyday life. Growing up between two cultures taught me early on to adapt to different environments and to see diversity as a real asset. I have two sisters and a younger brother, sixteen years my junior, who also lives in Phnom Penh today.

I studied at university in Cergy before joining a business school in Paris. After several years working and living in the Paris region, particularly in Boulogne-Billancourt, I chose to settle in Cambodia. What was meant to be an expatriation became a genuine life project. Ten years on, I'm still building both my professional and personal path here.

I started my career in digital as a traffic acquisition specialist and data analyst. I then moved into team management, change leadership and organisational development, always in fast-growing, technology-driven environments. My responsibilities have evolved, but the common thread has stayed the same: understanding systems, identifying levers for improvement, and building the right connections to move projects and teams forward.

Today, I support multicultural teams across the Asia-Paci

fic region within a consulting firm specialising in Data & AI. What I particularly enjoy is working at the intersection of technology, data and people, in an international setting where cultures, expertise and career paths complement one another.

I like to describe myself as a connector… or perhaps more accurately, as a bridge-builder. I enjoy bringing people, ideas and organisations together, creating the conditions for collaborations to work and for everyone to find their place. A bit like a matchmaker, I look for the best fit between a need and a solution, whether that's recruitment, organisational design, talent development or strategy.

Over time, I've realised that what drives me most isn't just solving problems, but building environments where people, technology and organisations can grow together.

Tell us about your school and university years

I first studied at university in Cergy before joining INSEEC Paris, where I earned a Master's in Marketing in 2005.

At the time, INSEEC trained very business-oriented profiles, with a strong culture of fieldwork, results and execution. That training gave me solid marketing foundations, but more importantly, a way of thinking: observing, analysing, understanding behaviours, and making decisions based on facts rather than intuition.

Looking back, I realise that's probably where my attraction to data was born. Long before marketing became digital and then data-driven, I was already fascinated by what numbers could reveal about usage patterns, organisations and people.

That training also confirmed my desire to work in environments where everything is still to be built. I've always been drawn to companies in transformation, where you can have a real impact, help practices evolve, and support growth rather than simply manage what already exists.

Tell us about how you started out professionally

I started my career in 2005, right when e-commerce was booming in France — and I was lucky enough to be part of it. I joined Pixmania, one of the biggest startups of the time, where I specialised in traffic acquisition: a role that barely existed yet, one we were inventing as we went.

I then moved into click-and-mortar, helping traditional retailers like France Loisirs through their digital transformation — as much an exercise in conviction as in technique. Then, in 2011, a turning point: I joined PMU, one of France's largest horse-racing betting and online gaming companies, which was rapidly expanding its digital operations amid growing competition. One billion in online revenue against nine billion in shops — the stakes were enormous. That's where I became a full-fledged data analyst, learning to work within organised, hierarchical, technologically advanced structures, sometimes in the middle of transformations where data adoption was still finding its feet.

For ten years in France, I held positions I had dreamed of without always having the matching diploma — those training programmes simply didn't exist yet at the time. What those organisations saw in me was potential, analytical ability, and a willingness to bet on mindset rather than academic credentials. I remain deeply grateful to them for that.

As far as I can remember, I seized most of my professional opportunities through relationships — meaningful, decisive encounters. My sensitivity to human capital was born from that. I quickly understood that to move forward well, you need to surround yourself with the right people. Even back in France, my early management experiences revealed my attachment to the human and relational side of things, while staying data-driven and analytical — which helps avoid bias and keeps things grounded in the rational. What makes a good collaboration and/or a good hire is the balance between the two. In 2015, I landed in Cambodia — and my professional chapter was about to take a completely different turn.

Tell us about your relationship with Cambodia

Cambodia is, first and foremost, a personal story. I have Khmer roots, and the desire to understand my history — my family's history — was a deep driving force behind my decision to come here. All the more so because we hadn't been raised in an environment where going back to the country, or even simply visiting it, was encouraged. My mother was traumatised by the Khmer Rouge and didn't want to return. Until 2006, when she gave in and came back transformed — which freed something in me, a desire I had been holding back out of respect for her.

In 2009, as a birthday gift for my 28th birthday, my partner offered me this unprecedented trip to Cambodia. And that's where everything began: discovering my origins, part of my family who knew us through the letters and photos my parents used to send regularly — and whom I had never known — meeting people who looked like us…

It was the deepest connection I had ever felt up to that point. Three weeks of travelling around the country were enough to plant the idea of one day coming to live here. It became the unspoken plan between my partner and me: go back to France, build our careers, and have our first child.

July 2013, our son was born. We discovered parenthood. Juggling a Parisian pace of life, demanding professional responsibilities and family life was becoming a puzzle we liked less and less. Christmas 2014 — we decided to go on a scouting trip together, to make new contacts and get a sense of the job market. The context was encouraging for digital; I landed my first job at an IT company providing SEO services for clients in France. In the six months before we left, we also grew closer to Anvaya, a Franco-Khmer network bringing together the diaspora — a valuable social springboard, where we met people with similar backgrounds to mine, also on a quest for identity.

We settled here in June 2015, and everything moved very quickly. We benefited from local networks and good tips passed between expats — and it was the beginning of a transformation on every level: professional, cultural, personal.

That deep connection formed during that first stay — that inexplicable, irrational bond that draws you in and makes you feel simply at ease — is still there, intact, ten years on.

I love this country. I love who I am here, and who I'm becoming. Cambodia has offered me an extraordinary playing field: an environment favourable to entrepreneurship, dynamic communities, and this mindset where you wake up every morning to give meaning to what you do and who you are. I had never felt that before coming here. Moving from a world where everything seemed already written to rewriting my own story — that's the most beautiful experience I continue to live today.

First trip to Cambodia – 2009, The beginning of a personal story

How did you come to join La French Tech in Cambodia?

I've followed La French Tech Phnom Penh since it was founded in 2015 — I was working for a local IT company at the time and stayed rooted in the digital and data sector. Representing French tech expertise in Cambodia was a cause I believed in deeply.

Leaving France makes you realise just how much the country is recognised internationally for its excellence, particularly in technology. It's a source of pride you don't always appreciate from the inside. For several years, I remained a strong supporter of the group's initiatives — behind the scenes, but committed.

In 2024, I was co-opted to join the Board. The new energy brought by this team has given the group real momentum, in a context where connecting local players with French startups makes even more sense today. Cambodia is fostering the creation of startups and entrepreneurial initiatives, and foreign investment has a real role to play. In 2026, my mandate was renewed with an ambitious roadmap — which is very motivating.

With Eva Berlinson, Board Member — our early days together on this adventure

What are your ambitions within this organisation, what do you hope to achieve?

My main ambition is to build bridges — between French startups and local players, between the APAC ecosystem and the opportunities France represents. Southeast Asia is full of talent and largely untapped development potential.

When I arrived ten years ago, I met many entrepreneurs launching businesses by replicating models that had worked in France, without sufficiently adapting to the local market. Some concepts didn't survive — either because the market wasn't ready, or because the offering hadn't been adapted to local cultural realities and consumer behaviour. Targeting only the expat community isn't viable in the long run.

What I want to bring to La French Tech is that hands-on field experience: sharing what we've learned, encouraging young startups to truly root themselves in the local context, and creating synergies between entrepreneurs who have things to offer one another. Mutual support and knowledge-sharing are what make a network like this strong.

Tell us about your professional activities

For the past four years, I've been Head of People & Culture at SBI APAC — a Data, AI and Finance Performance consulting firm with teams of more than 70 people spread across Cambodia and neighbouring countries: Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines. I also sit on the Executive Committee.

My role covers the full HR function: recruitment, onboarding, talent management, compensation policy, employer branding and internal communication. But at its core, what I do every day is connect the right people with the right projects, and build a framework that allows everyone to perform and thrive — while making sure people stay at the heart of the organisation.

Empathy, a data-driven approach, a business mindset, analytical thinking and leadership are the qualities that help me move teams forward. My spontaneous and direct character is an additional strength in this role. I've recruited hundreds of profiles to date, and my main strength is spotting future talent — often more a question of mindset than hard skills. What I look for as much as skills is integrity: in how someone relates to work, to others, and to themselves. It's a non-negotiable value, both in recruitment and in how I carry out my own role.

What brought me to this position was a natural evolution: from data and marketing, to operations, then to people. I understood fairly early on that what fascinated me about data wasn't the numbers themselves, but what they reveal about human behaviour. Today, my analysis is more behavioural and organisational than technical — and it's precisely that perspective that allows me to build organisations that perform.

Tell us about one of your projects

The entrepreneurial venture — the project that taught me as much about others as about myself.

In 2015, when we arrived, we quickly enrolled our two-year-old son in an English-speaking kindergarten. The question of after-school childcare came up very quickly: my partner and I both worked full-time, with 48-hour weekly contracts, five days a week from 8am to 6pm. Finding someone to look after our child from 3pm onward was a real headache.

The idea grew naturally: create a service for childminders, nannies and babysitters. Outside our working hours, we built a website — that was our core skill set — and I put together a database of qualified nannies. The kindergarten's network of assistants gave us access to local profiles, from the most junior to the most experienced. The expat network then went on to significantly feed that talent pool.

I screened candidates through interviews, but the real added value lay in reference-checking: beyond letters of recommendation, I contacted former employers directly. We offered two options: access to our database so clients could select profiles themselves, or a supported service including a shortlist of five profiles through to placement.

Very quickly, obstacles piled up. No clearly defined long-term vision — I was responding to a need I had experienced myself, without having formalised a clear mission. A positioning that was too niche, almost exclusively targeted at expats, while affluent local families relied on their own family networks. And above all: I wasn't putting 100% of my energy into it, since I kept working in parallel.

What I take away from it: setting up this service took me 48 hours, between launching the website and local outreach, both online and in public places. My first clients taught me an enormous amount about the standards expected across different cultures. I made some unlikely connections — including the CEO of the Leo beer brand and the CEO of Bred in 2016, among my very first clients, who contacted me directly, with no intermediary. That experience confirmed two things: my appetite for recruitment, and my deep desire to move into a more operational role, working in service of startups being built from the ground up.

What do you do outside of work?

Honestly, work takes up a significant place — it's a passion, and everything that comes with it holds my interest.

First and foremost, family time, and sharing as many activities together as possible. Then, social life: seeing friends, discovering new places in Phnom Penh, getting out of the city when the opportunity arises, and travelling around Southeast Asia since I rediscovered the region. All of this naturally leads to meeting new people — and I find that a genuine source of energy. Taking the time, sharing, giving time to local causes. My real passion is connecting with people who are building things. Their journeys inspire me enormously.

Taking part in the 250km run around the Mekong for Ptea Clara – 2023, 5 days of run & bike from Kratie to Phnom Penh

What do you like most, and least, about Cambodia?

What I love most is, paradoxically, also what frustrates me: the everyday chaos. That lack of structure, which can be exhausting on a large scale, is also what makes everything possible here — the agility, the creativity, entrepreneurship without a safety net. It's a constant playground for those who know how to work with uncertainty.

What touches me most deeply is people's kindness and their sense of respect. It's not a cliché — it's cultural, deeply rooted, sincere. After ten years, it hasn't worn off.

And what gives me hope is education. You can see the government investing more in it, and above all a younger generation that teaches itself, seeks out knowledge, and learns on its own. This country's future lies there — in these young people building their own path with today's tools.

My work brings me face to face with cultural barriers every day — but I've long since come to see them as opportunities: learning from one another, blending the best of both worlds, and appreciating our differences rather than enduring them.