Shaping young people’s futures: Amadou’s story

That’s because he’s also the co-founder of Les Pilotes, a non-profit organisation that’s already helped hundreds of 14 to 24 year olds grow their professional skills. 

• Learn about Amadou Cissé, a mobile engineer at Zühlke, and the non-profit enterprise he co-founded for disadvantaged young people. 
• Discover how some of the skills Amadou learnt at Zühlke have contributed to his passion project, and vice versa.
• Find out what appeals to him about Zühlke’s Bern office.

Co-founding 'Les Pilotes'

As a young person, finding opportunities to build professional skills can be hard.

That’s especially true in some Parisian neighbourhoods, where economic disadvantages can limit exposure to the world of work, IT coaching, or mentors in tech. 

Amadou sought to change that. In 2021 he co-founded Les Pilotes to help teenagers find and take control of their future. 

The organisation accepts multiple cohorts each year, and participants can sign up for its ‘Immersion’, and ‘Impulsion programs, and for an entrepreneurial contest. 

Immersion involves representatives from companies showcasing life in different sectors, including IT and finance. Impulsion delivers a more ‘hands on’ approach. For example, over the course of a day, you might learn about website landing pages before coached on how to build your own. Finally, the contest is a three-month competition where participants become entrepreneurs, using CSR principles to tackle societal issues. They develop a business plan and present it to an audience of up to 400 people. Impressively, all event volunteers are former participants of Les Pilotes’ programs. Past projects include a responsible food service for diabetics, a cancer prevention app/social media, an app that translates sign language, or an AI that identifies dangers on railway tracks.

What inspired Amadou to make his dream a reality? Why does he feel so strongly about the need to provide mentoring in tech and IT?

“My brother, who’s one of two other co-founders, was a key mentor of mine growing up,” he says. “From finding people to help me with mathematics tutoring to getting me my first job, he always had my interests in mind. I think that’s probably the best thing that can happen to young people when they’re growing up – especially when they really like to learn, like I do.” 

He explains how one group of young people’s interest in IT snowballed after giving them weekly IT sessions.

“I wrote a small syllabus to get them started, exercises to train, and at the end they worked on a mobile app concept – acting as developers, designers and project managers. From those early IT mentoring days, today, all are studying IT formally.”

From Paris to Bern

Amadou’s formative experiences served him well. They shaped a journey that saw him bring his interest in IT to life. First as a software engineer, and now a mobile developer specialist. 

Since joining Zühlke in 2023 he’s been able to apply and grow his skill set through multiple projects, and across several verticals. 

In fact, it was the promise of constant and varied learning – and the chance to become more adaptable – that made him apply in the first place. And he hasn’t looked back.

“I’ve discovered a lot of new things, which has been cool. From cloud architecture to testing to technical writing, Zühlke has made it possible to absorb multiple experiences, all of which I enjoy.”

Working in Zühlke’s Bern office only complements this. 

For Amadou, it’s the perfect change of pace compared to Paris – with a tight-knit group of colleagues who make it easy to integrate, and collaborate on different projects.

How Zühlke has helped Amadou

Since its launch, Les Pilotes has expanded to several cities across France. This begs an important question: How can you oversee such an important commitment – on such a large scale – while having a full-time job? 

Thankfully, the volunteer management team at Les Pilotes has expanded to a point where it can run its day-to-day operations without Amadou. Even more impressive, all the volunteers are former participants of the Les Pilotes’ programs.

Amadou points out that Zühlke’s philosophy has been hugely positive in helping him navigate his work/life commitments.

“One of the things my manager told me was that it’s not just the work, it’s also the commitment. In other words, we’re here to deliver what we’re supposed to deliver but without neglecting our personal lives.”     

But this went beyond simple understanding. The philosophy also translated into practical support with Zühlke giving Amadou the working flexibility he needed to keep both Les Pilotes and his mobile development projects on track. 

And even better, elements from both now feed into each other. 

Amongst other things, life at Zühlke has helped Amadou sharpen his organisational skills, which have benefited his role expanding Les Pilotes. 

The latter has upskilled his communication skills, which have proven highly valuable when discussing technical details with clients. 

Does he have any big plans in the near future? Beyond taking on new projects for Zühlke, Amadou’s goal for Les Pilotes is simply to connect more participants with tech and IT coaching so they can achieve their dreams.

“One fifteen year old girl joined us with very little confidence. Her group ended up claiming the top presentation against lots of older kids, and now she takes the mic with ease. We helped secure financial support for her, and today at 18, she’s doing a bachelor’s degree in Digital & International Business!”

Hopefully we’ll see many more.