What are the current DNS abuse challenges registrars are facing today? In our interview we talk about this with Arnaud Franquinet CEO of Gandi SAS.
Mr. Franquinet, would you introduce your company in 2-3 sentences?
Gandi is a French registrar that has been offering its private customers domain names, mail, SSL, webhosting and cloud services for 20 years. Gandi also helps large accounts manage and secure their domain name portfolios, in line with their brand protection strategy, including brand monitoring products. The company generates €65 million in sales, with 55% coming from outside France, and employs 135 people across three continents: the US, Europe and Asia. From the outset, the company has been committed to respecting the privacy and security of its customers.
Which digitalisation topics are particularly important to you?
In the individual market: raising awareness of the limitations of large digitalisation platforms. In the SME market: support them in securing their domain names and hosting when they don’t have the necessary resources.
Overall, transparency in data usage and the security of customer data and usage are key priorities.
What are the special challenges in your industry at the moment and how are you working on them?
The main challenge is the multiplication of abuses in all their forms, which generative AI will increase tenfold (by lowering technical barriers and enabling better targeting), along with 6G, which will multiply access points and increase attack capabilities. In Europe, we face a particular challenge from the authorities, who have acknowledged the issue, but proposed rules that could have a devastating effect, creating competitive biases without ensuring an abuse-free environment.
How do you expect your membership in the eco association to support you in this?
eco’s active lobbying of European regulatory bodies and ICANN, in addition to bringing together multiple industry players, should create the conditions for better consideration of industry realities.
What opportunities does digitalisation offer us in the future?
From an economic point of view: digitalisation can underpin global growth by streamlining exchanges between consumers and producers. From an intellectual perspective: it can create conditions for a rise in global IQ (AI is an aspect), enabling us to address major future challenges facing humanity.
From a political point of view: as long as neutrality is maintained – which is not the current choice made by Western countries- digitalisation can promote democracy.
Thank you for the interview, Mr. Franquinet!
Graduate of Sciences Po, Arnaud Franquinet began his career as a financial consultant at PWC and later Mazars. He then joined Michael Page International and Bernard Julhiet as headhunter. In 2002, he was appointed by the French government as HR Director for the Office Français de Protection des Réfugiés et des Apatrides (French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons). In 2005, he was recruited by Grant Thornton as VP HR and BD in France and Europe. In 2016, he co-founded WantMore.Work, a search engine for identifying consultants, before joining Gandi as CEO in 2028. Arnaud Franquinet was also elected to Afnic’s Board of Directors and to Nominet’s Registrar Advisory Board. He sits on the Afnic Foundation, which supports the development of a solidarity-based Internet, on the Board of Directors of Arborus, which promotes diversity in the professional world, and on the Strategic Orientation Council of JobIrl, a French association providing career guidance and promoting access to education.
