Thomas Solignac is an ardent preacher of Artificial Intelligence. A true believer that AI and its allied technologies can bring in all the innovation needed in today’s world. Thomas finds interest in each project by a multidisciplinary perspective. Computer sciences, software design, programming, language theory are a  few of his all-time favorite subjects. He is the CEO & Co-founder of Golem.ai, a firm that provides business solutions to improve performance, thanks to transparent and controlled AI of natural language understanding, for emails and document  automation. In an interview, he speaks on an array of topics. Excerpts from the interview:

The Exponential Value of AI within Healthcare

The healthcare industry is a sector where AI is growing exponentially, says Thomas. “If mainstream media focuses on AI for diagnostics, it’s also a wonderful opportunity for relieving all support activities in healthcare. It’s a sector weighed down by cumbersome administrative mechanisms. AI is also an amazing tool for automating administrative tasks, and eventually making healthcare more affordable, and patient-centric.” The Healthcare market development also has a direct impact on sectors such as insurance.  This is an area for which we provide AI solutions to simplify the analysis of medical expertise reports.

Conception of Golem.ai.

Golem.ai was designed to meet a simple business need: automatically reading messages and documents, since text is the number 1 origin of data in companies, according to this tech enthusiast. “Originally, Golem.ai was created after four years of R&D dedicated to producing an AI, capable of understanding language. Our first area of prospection was voice control, but we soon turned to written text, as we realized that businesses were overflowing with it.”

Thomas observes that at the end of this R&D phase, other competitors also appeared in that field of vision. “We realized at that time that we were the only ones to have adopted a completely logical and transparent approach to AI, where all market players preferred a statistical and black box approach (deep learning). There were two options then: either we had screwed up, or we had an opportunity in our hands for the industry.” The years that followed, allowed us to validate our hypothesis and position us at the forefront of a new way of doing AI – in a more elegant, more efficient and more in line with modern ethical and ecological issues, says Thomas.

Flagship Product(s)

Today, the company sells two products: InboxCare, which automates customer relationship processing, and DocuChecker, which automates the reading of documents (calls for tenders, reports, etc.).

“Benefiting from our unique AI technology, these products do not require training and are very easy to internationalize, adding spoken languages to the system is inexpensive. We now natively manage more than 30 languages. In addition, these products are designed to be integrated into an IS and offer a level of automation or assistance adapted to the customer’s request.”

By installing automation for customer relations or reading documents, customers benefit from Golem.ai technology in several ways including improving team efficiency, internal alignment, reduced staff turnover, improved customer satisfaction, contributing to revenue development etc.

The AI Journey

Thomas says that he fell in love with AI early while he was studying. “I was not only in an IT Engineering school, but I was also studying philosophy at university. At the crossroads of engineering and human sciences, AI is a tremendously exciting sector as much for its multidisciplinary nature as for its impact on the future. It is a rich, complex subject, and the choices we make today will have a significant impact for tomorrow. As soon as I could, I started my own free AI project while studying and little by little, this project became Golem.ai.”

Leadership Traits

“I am a very puzzle-solving and challenge-oriented person. I try to reconcile a culture of open communication, direct and without subtext, with a background of benevolence and unity. I think an AI startup cannot succeed without being data-driven.” It is essential in AI, and it is increasingly essential in the modern world of business. However, this dimension must also be accompanied by answers to questions including what we bring to the world, why is what we produce of value, what is the impact of our positions on our economic environment etc.

Words of Advice

He urges AI startups to be creative. “AI is not just a technology; it is an object of sovereignty and a cultural object. We need variety for the good of the field, technically speaking, but also to allow an ethical development of AI, in the service of humanity and its challenges.”

Success Mantra

Golem.ai embraces the challenge of facing big players in the market, according to Thomas. “Holding on to this position is not just an economic opportunity, it is also a vision that must be carried out with courage regarding popular opinions and preconceived ideas. This incredible ambition makes Golem.ai a place of personal (and professional!) development for its employees.”