Driving Operational Transformation at Keolis with Pigment

At a Glance

• Implementing Pigment has enabled Keolis to break down silos and enable performance visibility across the group through data democratization, a major milestone in their enterprise performance management (EPM) journey
• Their project has successfully streamlined HR planning, budget planning, investment tracking, and fleet forecasting
• Contract indexation calculation efficiency gain of 83%
• Preparing for a data-driven, sustainable, AI-powered future
• Pigment has simultaneously empowered business teams while evolving IT from being a technical gatekeeper to being a performance enabler.

Charting a new route: overcoming infrastructure challenges

As CIO, Cyrille Dunesme, is responsible for leading Keolis’ IT strategy, to deliver both proposed systems, such as Pigment as well as developing in-house systems across the organisation’s subsidiaries. 

Prior to Pigment, Keolis faced two critical challenges causing operational roadblocks. Due to outdated and fragmented EPM software and systems that hindered efficiency and decision-making. The lack of interoperability was particularly concerning in the fast-paced world of public transportation, where coordination and clarity are vital.

Faced with growing pressure to modernize, Keolis initiated a digital transformation journey. Cyrille offers a key insight from this process:

A core focus was to make performance visible and actionable across the group—a goal that required democratizing access to business tools and data, and supporting the adoption of solutions like Pigment across teams. This transformation laid the foundation for more integrated, strategic planning and financial analysis at scale.

Pigment as a co-pilot in Keolis’ transformation journey

After evaluating several EPM vendors, Pigment emerged as the preferred platform to address Keolis’ challenges and now powers their budget planning, forecasting and workforce planning processes. It offered not just a solution to outdated systems, but a way to unify and streamline business-critical processes across the organization, whilst giving them the autonomy for internal management and development of the platform without relying on external resources.

Pigment stood out due to its ability to handle and load key datasets from Keolis' data warehouse including : 

• 150 properties for administrative management data
• 15 properties for absence and training data
• 13,000 payroll data lines with a variance of +/- 20%

Additionally, the platform manages data across 6 functional dimensions and provides monthly granularity for time-based calculations which is a crucial feature for dynamic scenario planning.

What made the difference for Keolis was the collaborative relationship fostered by Pigment. Cyrille highlights:

Pigment was not just another tool—it became a digital co-pilot in Keolis’ transformation journey. At the same time, Keolis began a broader effort to empower business teams through upskilling and redefine the role of IT—from prescribing tools to enabling performance across departments.

Optimizing the journey: boosting efficiency across the board

Pigment facilitates real-time consolidation for budget and forecast across over 100 subsidiaries, with 400 budget assumptions entered and calculated during the process. The finance team runs 5 budget cycles run in parallel, with 3 versions available per cycle. In HR, 310 payroll aggregates and 80 HR indicators calculated and reported on. 

Pigment provides the confidence that their complex budgets are set appropriately and managed well—enabling synergy between finance, HR, and operations, particularly through the crucial role of Management Control. This tool will bring about more efficient and streamlined processes, enhancing HR performance management.

With Pigment in place, Keolis experienced significant operational improvements across key areas:

• Workforce Planning: Better visibility and planning with more granular data control over 13,000 payroll lines, 310 payroll aggregates, with 80 HR indicators calculated and reported on within Pigment.
• Budget Planning & Forecasting: More accurate, real-time tracking
• Contracts indexation: Improved velocity

• Investment Tracking: Improved transparency
• Fleet Forecasting: Enhanced accuracy for vehicle and route planning

The user experience was elevated, and the speed of complex calculations improved dramatically. This was largely due to Pigment’s collaborative and intuitive design approach. As Cyrille explains:

Envisioning the road ahead: AI and sustainability in focus

Pigment’s impact extends beyond today’s improvements—it’s shaping Keolis’ future. Cyrille envisions a platform capable of simplifying complex tools and enabling powerful AI-driven insights.

One key ambition is to scale this across Keolis’ global footprint and integrate sustainability tracking and ESG reporting into their planning. Tracking carbon emissions and enhancing international data coordination are future priorities, and Pigment is well-positioned to support both.

A model for digital transformation in transportation

The partnership between Keolis and Pigment showcases how public transportation leaders can successfully modernize operations using modern EPM tools, AI-assisted planning, and data democratization. From reducing complexity to enabling strategic foresight, Pigment has empowered Keolis to drive change across departments.

This story offers a blueprint for organizations looking to move beyond spreadsheets and legacy systems toward integrated, intelligent, and future-ready business planning software that supports financial transformation, HR agility, and long-term sustainability goals. Cyrille’s advice encapsulates the spirit of this transformation:

Curious how other organizations are transforming planning with Pigment? Explore how Employment Hero drives growth, improves agility, and empowers decision-making through a unified platform. Read the customer story