Professional Experience
📚 Detailed Information: For comprehensive details about my work history, including code samples, technical artifacts, and project documentation spanning from 1994-2015, visit my work history repository on GitHub.
Act as the first customer and provide in-depth feedback to the R&D team to enhance product usability. Create and publish deep technical content including code demos, blog posts, and YouTube videos (400k subscribers). Regularly speak at international conferences and institutions (World Bank, Bank of Italy). Bring technical expertise on cloud and open-source AI, benchmark and deploy models across hardware platforms (CPU, GPU, AI accelerators), and lead model integration on partner platforms. Recognized as an Arm Ambassador for expertise in inference on Arm platforms.
Led technical evangelism and community building for the leading open-source AI platform, focusing on transformer models, optimization, and deployment strategies.
Key Achievements:
- As a field CTO, worked with Fortune 500 technical teams and decision-makers to help them adopt and deploy solutions on private infrastructure (VPC and on-prem)
- Acted as tech lead on several projects, most notably with JPMorgan, interacting with top-level stakeholders like Drew Cukor, and engaging deeply with their IT and cybersecurity teams
- Initiated/contributed to strategic partnerships with AWS, Azure, Google, Intel, AMD, etc.
- Led 250+ AWS customer meetings in Q3 2023 (13 EMEA countries) and Q2 2024 (8 US cities), generating an immediate commercial pipeline in excess of $35 million
- Created deep technical AI/ML content (blogs, videos, demos), with focus on optimizing transformer inference across hardware platforms: CPU (Intel, Arm), GPU (Nvidia, AMD), AI accelerators (Graphcore, Intel Gaudi, AWS Trainium & Inferentia)
- Regularly spoke at international conferences, industry events (AWS, IBM, AMD, Microsoft), and institutions (UNESCO, NY Federal Reserve)
- Engaged with TV, radio, and press
Technical Environment
AI/ML Technologies
- Transformer models
- Open-source libraries and frameworks
- AI training and inference hardware
Cloud Platforms
- AWS
- Azure
- GCP
Hardware Optimization
- CPU optimization (Intel, Arm)
- GPU optimization (Nvidia, AMD)
- AI accelerators (Graphcore, Intel Gaudi, AWS Trainium & Inferentia)
Helped AWS customers worldwide understand and adopt the AWS AI/ML service portfolio. Built a wealth of deep technical content (blogs, videos, demos) and authored the first book on Amazon SageMaker, "Learn Amazon SageMaker".
Key Achievements:
- Gave 650+ talks in nearly 40+ countries (AWS events, Velocity, ODSC, etc.)
- Spoke regularly with the international press and briefed industry analysts (Gartner, Forrester)
- Took part in hundreds of 1:1 sessions with AWS customers, from technical teams to C-level at Fortune 500 companies
- Worked directly with many AWS service teams (EC2, AI/ML, Big Data) to incorporate customer feedback and improve services before launch
- Wrote over 70 launch blog posts
- Was promoted in 2021 to Amazon level 8, the equivalent of a Director level for individual contributors — an extremely rare achievement at Amazon
- Was the second most senior technical evangelist at AWS after AWS Chief Evangelist Jeff Barr
- Was named #1 AI Evangelist by AI Magazine in 2021
Technical Environment
AWS Services
- All things AWS (10 AWS certifications)
- DevOps
- Big data
AI/ML Technologies
- Machine learning
- Deep learning (PyTorch, TensorFlow)
- Computer Vision (CV)
- Natural Language Processing (NLP)
- Transformers
AI Hardware
- GPU
- Inferentia
- Trainium
Led software, infrastructure, and big data (70 engineers in Paris and San Francisco) for viadeo.com, a professional social network with 10M members.
Key Achievements:
- Initiated and completed an all-in migration and refactoring of a 200-server physical platform to AWS
- Managed 70 engineers across Paris and San Francisco locations
- Oversaw software, infrastructure, and big data operations for 10M member platform
Technical Environment
Frontend & Backend
- Node.js
- Java
Databases & Big Data
- MySQL
- HBase
- Spark
- Redshift
- EMR
Machine Learning
- Clustering
- Classification
Infrastructure
- Data centers
- AWS
Managed a team of 130 engineers responsible for software engineering (OS, apps & web) and infrastructure for all Aldebaran robots. Reorganized the distressed team and deployed Agile methods, improving development efficiency.
Key Achievements:
- Against all odds, launched the world-famous Pepper robot in Tokyo in June (CNN article)
- Reorganized the distressed team and deployed Agile methods, improving development efficiency
- Managed software engineering (OS, apps & web) and infrastructure for all Aldebaran robots
Technical Environment
Programming
- C++
- Python
Systems
- Embedded Linux
- Amazon Web Services
AI Technologies
- Speech recognition
- Computer vision
In charge of an online advertising SaaS platform used by over 3000 e-commerce companies in over 30 countries. Managed 60+ people across multiple technical domains.
Key Responsibilities & Achievements:
- Publisher Platforms: Software development of buy-side applications, most notably Real-Time Bidding (Facebook, Google, Yahoo, Appnexus, etc). Over 30 billion incoming HTTP requests daily.
- Scalability & Big Data: Service-oriented web application framework, caching, databases, log management & processing (6PB Hadoop cluster), BI, etc. Constant focus on web performance and on data processing for real-time and analytics needs.
- Infrastructure & Production (30M€ budget): 7 datacenters located in Europe, US and Japan (6000 devices). All hardware deployed, monitored and managed by Criteo (servers, load balancers, LAN/WAN networking equipment, storage, etc.).
Technical Environment
Languages & Frameworks
- C#
- Java
- C/C++
Web & Services
- IIS
- nginx
- SQL Server
Big Data & Storage
- MongoDB
- Cloudera Hadoop
- Storm
- Kafka
Infrastructure
- Linux
- Memcache/Couchbase
- Nagios/Centreon
- Graphite
Hardware & Networking
- Commodity x64 servers
- Cisco Nexus switches & routers
- F5 and A10 load balancers
- Isilon storage
In charge of an e-commerce platform generating 2 billion Euros of gross merchant value. Reorganized and managed 150 engineers across agile project managers (Scrum), front office & back office software development (PHP, PL/SQL), infrastructure, QA, tech support, and business intelligence.
Key Achievements:
- Owner of the IT budget (6 M€ per year)
- Lowered OPEX by 20% through better supplier management and contract renegotiation
- Managed 600+ servers in 7 locations
- Oversaw 2 Petabytes of NetApp storage
Technical Environment
Development
- PHP
- MySQL
- Oracle
- PL/SQL
Infrastructure
- Linux (600+ servers)
- NetApp (2PB total)
- Dark fiber
- MPLS
In charge of Software & Infrastructure for a SaaS platform used for digital supply chain services by the music majors (Universal, Sony, Warner). Scaled the technical team from 12 to 50 people.
Key Achievements:
- Designed and deployed new technical infrastructure on 2 hosting locations (150 servers, CAPEX>2M€)
- Implemented ISO 27001 security standards
- Managed disaster recovery systems
Technical Environment
Development
- Java J2EE
- Spring
- Hibernate
Media & Storage
- Audio/video transcoding
- Oracle 10g (RAC)
- NetApp
- Isilon
Led software development of all Telecom products (45 people in France, 25 in China and the Philippines). Many high-profile customer wins (Vodafone Group, Cingular). Reorganized R&D teams to sustain a 60% yearly increase of delivered smartcard volumes.
Key Achievements:
- Led software development for all telecom products across multiple locations
- Managed 70 engineers across France, China, and Philippines
- Won major contracts with Vodafone Group and Cingular
- Reorganized R&D teams to sustain 60% yearly increase in smartcard volumes
- Led custom SIM application development for European Mobile Network Operators (SFR, Orange, TIM, Telefonica, Vodafone UK)
Technical Environment
Development
- Java
- JavaCard
- SIM Applications
Mobile Networks
- GSM/UMTS
- Mobile Network Operators
- Smartcard Technology
Management
- Team Leadership
- International Coordination
- Product Development
Worked on multiple high-profile projects through subcontracting assignments across major technology companies.
Key Achievements:
- OBERTHUR CARD SYSTEMS (1 year): Designed and implemented multiple JavaCard applications for the Identity & E-commerce markets. Trained 50 people on Java & Java Card development.
- SCHLUMBERGER SEMA (6 months): JavaCard development and system integration.
- SUN MICROSYSTEMS, ChorusOS Engineering Group (2 years): Developed custom kernel features for an innovative set-top box (millions of units shipped). Integrated the complete C/C++ cross-development suite (4 hosts, 20+ targets). Supported customers worldwide on all versions of Chorus. Traveled on-site to investigate issues and train customers (15 on-site classes at Sun Microsystems, Lucent, Nokia, Nortel, etc.).
- BOSCH TELECOM (13 months): Designed and implemented a real-time communication layer running on a public-network PBX (C++, Solaris, ChorusOS on Motorola 68k, SNMP). Supported 20 application developers in Germany & India.
- BRITISH TELECOM FRANCE (4 months): Provided technical expertise to the Sales/Marketing team on Concert Internet Plus (high-end Internet access for businesses). Presented the product to prospects (mostly ISPs), answered RFPs.
Technical Environment
Embedded Systems
- Motorola 68k
- ChorusOS
- Real-time Systems
- Cross-compilation
Programming
- C/C++
- Java
- JavaCard
- Assembly
Operating Systems
- Solaris
- UNIX
- Embedded Linux
- Microkernel
Networking & Protocols
- SNMP
- PBX Systems
- Telecommunications
- Internet Protocols
Combined research and teaching roles that established the foundation for my career in technology. Contributed to groundbreaking distributed systems research at MASI Laboratory, Paris 6 University, focusing on Mach microkernel-based operating systems. Simultaneously taught undergraduate computer science courses at multiple prestigious engineering institutions.
Key Responsibilities:
- Research (80%): Distributed systems research at Paris 6 University, contributing to international publications and advancing microkernel technology
- Teaching (20%): Computer science education at ISEP, EPITA & ETGL covering algorithms, programming languages, and system architecture
Education
Master's Degree in Computer Systems
Advanced studies in computer systems, focusing on distributed systems, network protocols, operating systems, and software engineering principles. This program provided a strong foundation in both theoretical and practical aspects of computer science.
Engineering Degree in Electrical Engineering
Comprehensive engineering education covering electrical systems, electronics, and embedded systems. This degree laid the groundwork for my expertise in hardware-software integration, which has been invaluable throughout my career in technology, from embedded systems to cloud computing and AI.
Awards
#1 AI Evangelist
Ranked as the #1 AI Evangelist globally by AI Magazine, a distinction that placed me alongside AI luminaries such as Andrew Ng. This recognition was a testament to my dedication to advancing the field of artificial intelligence and machine learning. As AWS's Global AI & Machine Learning Evangelist, I consistently demonstrated a passion for sharing knowledge, creating educational content, and fostering collaboration with industry leaders.
My work has inspired countless professionals and organizations to adopt AI technologies, and my influence extends through my widely followed YouTube channel, blog, and keynote speeches. This accolade underscores my thought leadership and my ability to bridge the gap between complex AI concepts and practical business applications.
🏆 View AI Magazine ArticlePrix de l'Innovation
Honored with the Prix de l'Innovation at the Trophées CIO in France. This award recognized my leadership and innovation at Criteo, where I served as Vice President of Engineering. During my tenure, I played a pivotal role in driving the company's technological advancements, including the development of cutting-edge tools for advertising technology and the management of exponential growth through scalable infrastructure.
This award highlighted my ability to lead high-performing teams, innovate in a rapidly evolving industry, and deliver solutions that had a significant impact on the company's global success.