Defsquare is a software consulting and engineering company run by its two partners, based in Paris. Our clients increasingly ask us to state our commitments on business ethics, human rights, and social and environmental responsibility. This page gathers them. We review it every year when we close our financial year, on 30 September.
We are below the thresholds that make the French Sapin II anti-corruption programme mandatory. We nevertheless apply its principles, at our scale, through a code of conduct that every person working for Defsquare accepts:
Neither the company, nor its partners, nor any entity they own or control has ever been subject to a national or international sanction, a conviction or proceedings for corruption, fraud, money laundering or terrorism financing.
Our work is intellectual, carried out in France by qualified people. The risk of harm to human rights, to the health and safety of people or to the environment is low. We nonetheless commit to:
Our policy is proportionate to our size. It is not certified and does not produce an annual report. It rests on concrete commitments along three axes, and on a progress plan reviewed every year.
Senior teams, paid at their fair value, and a model built on mentoring: experts supervise and train less experienced engineers. Skills transfer to the client’s teams is part of every engagement. Defsquare is a Qualiopi-certified training organisation. We run technical communities open to everyone, on a voluntary basis (Domain-Driven Design France, Continuous Architecture).
No dedicated premises and no vehicle fleet: we work remotely and on our clients’ premises. We travel by train whenever possible. IT equipment is kept for at least five years, then refurbished. Cloud hosting is located in France or in the European Union, with providers committed to the energy efficiency of their data centres.
Our tools are released as open source. Our subcontractors’ payment terms are honoured. We are transparent with our clients about progress and days consumed. The code of conduct and the reporting channel are accessible to everyone.
Our direct environmental footprint is that of an intellectual services business without premises: travel, IT equipment and digital services. Our commitments cover four of the five usual environmental strategies. We have no biodiversity protection strategy, as our activity has no direct impact on natural environments.
| Strategy | Committed | Measures in place and planned |
|---|---|---|
| Energy efficiency | Yes | No premises and no servers of our own. Laptops put to sleep or switched off when not in use. Cloud environments sized to needs, development and test environments shut down when unused. Hosting providers committed to the energy efficiency of their data centres. |
| Greenhouse gas reduction | Yes | Train rather than plane (target: at least 90 % of trips), video calls by default for short meetings, remote work, hosting in France or in the European Union. First simplified emissions assessment by 30 September 2027, then a reduction target. |
| Biodiversity protection | No | No formal strategy: our activity has no land footprint and no direct impact on natural environments. |
| Waste reduction and treatment | Yes | Equipment kept for at least five years, then refurbished, donated or recycled (WEEE channel); refurbished equipment preferred when buying. Paperless work: no printing, no consumables. |
| Sustainable mobility | Yes | No vehicle fleet. Public transport or bicycle within Paris, train in France and to neighbouring countries, remote work several days a week whenever the engagement allows it. |
Our social policy applies to the partners, the employees and, where relevant, the subcontractors. It rests on four principles, applied without heavy formalism given our size, and verifiable through the reporting channel and the audit right described on this page.
| Principle | Included | How we apply it |
|---|---|---|
| Non-discrimination | Yes | Employees are hired and subcontractors selected on skills and experience only, against criteria set before the interviews. No question about personal situation, health, beliefs or origin. Any breach can be reported through the reporting channel. |
| Equal pay for women and men | Yes | Salaries and daily rates are set by profile, experience and engagement, identically whatever the gender, and checked at each hire, contract and yearly review. The French gender equality index does not apply below 50 employees. |
| Work-life balance | Yes | Remote work and chosen hours, meetings during office hours, no solicitation outside working hours or during leave except for a production incident, workload planned in days and tracked weekly, travel limited to what is needed. |
| Equal opportunity, inclusion and diversity | Yes, without a label | No label or charter signed. Mentoring: experts supervise and train less experienced engineers. Technical communities run on a voluntary basis, free and open to all. People with disabilities are welcome in our training courses, with adapted arrangements on request, in line with our Qualiopi certification. |
The progress plan turns the policy into measurable actions. We review it at each year-end closing: results are recorded, targets adjusted and next year’s actions added. Indicators are shared with clients on request.
| Axis | Action | Indicator | Target and deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Environment | Train for every trip in France and to neighbouring countries; plane only when there is no alternative | Share of trips made by train | At least 90 % in 2026-2027 |
| Environment | Equipment used for at least five years, then refurbished, donated or recycled; refurbished equipment preferred | Share of retired equipment refurbished, donated or recycled | 100 % in 2026-2027 |
| Environment | First simplified emissions assessment: travel, equipment, hosting and cloud | Assessment completed, reduction target set for the following year | 30 September 2027 |
| People | Continuous training of partners and employees: courses, conferences, shared technology watch | Training or conference days per person per year | At least 5 days in 2026-2027 |
| People | Skills transfer to the client’s teams in every engagement: pairing, workshops, documentation | Share of engagements whose proposal includes skills transfer | 100 % of engagements started after 1 October 2026 |
| Governance | Ethics and CSR clause in the standard subcontracting agreement: code of conduct, human rights, environment, audit right | Share of agreements signed after the deadline that include the clause | In place by 31 December 2026, then 100 % |
| Governance | Subcontractors paid on the contractual due date | Share of subcontractor invoices paid on time | Always at 100 % |
| Governance | Policy and plan published on defsquare.com, reviewed every year at closing | Page published and updated after each closing | Published by 31 December 2026, reviewed on 30 September 2027 |
Anyone, inside or outside the company, can report a breach of these commitments to the managing partner, Jérémie Grodziski, at [email protected] . If the report concerns him, it can be sent to the other partner, David Panza, at [email protected] . Reports are handled confidentially and without retaliation.
Our clients, or a third party they appoint and who is bound by confidentiality, may verify that these commitments are met, on documents or on site, with reasonable notice and in a way that preserves the confidentiality of our other clients.
Last update: October 2026.