When Margaux Tawil joined Abnormal nearly two years ago, the EMEA Sales Engineering (SE) team was a handful of people covering a wide range of opportunities across the region. Today it's more than double the size, with deeper specialization and broader regional coverage. Margaux has been in the middle of that growth the whole time, not watching it happen from a distance, but helping to make it real, one customer conversation at a time.
Building the Market, Not Just the Pipeline
Margaux is based in Paris and covers France and emerging markets as an Enterprise Sales Engineer (SE). Her role sits at the intersection of technical expertise, consulting, and storytelling. But in a region where Abnormal is still growing, the work goes further than most SE roles would. You're not just running evaluations. You're educating, adapting, and earning trust in a market that's still forming its view of what AI can actually do.
"Especially with AI, customers aren't always just evaluating a product. Sometimes they are really trying to understand how this technology can fit into their organization and what it really means for the way they work."
"You're building relationships, gathering feedback, adapting the messaging, and creating trust from the ground up."
The Moment the Market Started Moving
One event stood out as a turning point. At Les Assises, the annual cybersecurity gathering in Monaco, Margaux saw something shift in real time. The conversations she was having with security leaders were different from the year before, and the difference was significant.
"Les Assises really stands out this year because it felt like a snapshot of how quickly the market was changing."
The year before, most of those conversations were still about understanding what AI was. At Les Assises this year, the question had moved on entirely.
"Last year, people were still trying to understand what AI was. This year, the real question was already: how do I use it in my organization? How do I create value from it?"
Seeing that shift happen in real time, she says, was pretty memorable.
When Evaluation Becomes Imagination
The moments Margaux finds most rewarding happen when a customer stops assessing and starts envisioning. She remembers showing a prospect how they could automate a process that was consuming hours every week across multiple teams. The conversation changed immediately. It stopped being about features and became about impact.
"You can actually see that shift immediately. Those moments are always very rewarding because this is exactly when our technology has become real for them."
"One of my favorite moments is when a customer stops evaluating the technology and starts imagining what they could do with it."
AI as a Force Multiplier
Covering France and emerging markets as a single SE means Margaux has to find leverage wherever she can. AI is how she does it.
Before an important conversation, she uses it to understand the company, identify relevant industry trends, and surface public information so she can think through the questions she actually wants to ask.
"What used to take hours of research can often be done in minutes now. And that means I spend less time gathering information and more time focusing on the customer and the conversation itself."
The result is more time for the part of the job that AI can't replicate. "It does not replace the human side of the job," she said. "I think it makes those conversations much more authentic."
Talking About AI as a User, Not an Observer
For Margaux, there's a direct line between how she uses AI in her own work and how credibly she can talk about it with customers. When someone in a meeting asks how AI actually changes the way she works, she doesn't have to reach for abstract examples.
"I can share very practical examples rather than just theoretical ones. And that tends to make the conversation more relevant, and I think a lot more credible as well."
"I'm not talking about AI as an observer. I'm talking about it as a user. Because I experience both the benefits and the limitations every day."
Honesty as a Competitive Advantage
One thing Margaux hadn't seen consistently at other companies is intellectual honesty as a genuine operating principle. It's one of Abnormal's VOICE values, and when asked which resonates most in her day-to-day, she doesn't hesitate.
"For me, it's intellectual honesty. What I really appreciate is that people are comfortable saying, I don't know, when they really don't have the answer. And there is a real willingness to challenge assumptions, ask difficult questions, and change direction when new information comes in."
That intellectual honesty shapes how the team shows up with customers too. When Margaux tells a prospect something about the product, they can trust it's accurate because the culture behind it doesn't reward overpromising.
"It creates a better discussion internally, and it helps to build trust externally as well. Because customers know that we are actually focusing on being accurate and transparent with the product that we are selling."
What the Role Actually Turned Out to Be
When Margaux joined Abnormal, she expected to spend most of her time giving product demos. The reality was broader than that, and it's what she's enjoyed most.
The technical part matters, she's clear about that. But success in her role comes from understanding customers, influencing strategy, and helping shape a market that's still taking form.
"This is far more entrepreneurial than I originally expected. And that's probably also what I enjoy most about it."
It's a fitting description for someone who joined a small team in a market still being built and helped grow it into something with real momentum. Two years in, she's still finding new ground to cover.
