[ITW] Delfox: Working on tomorrow’s artificial intelligence with ArianeGroup today

Can you give us a brief overview of the Delfox solution?

Nowadays, the world is full of drones, robots and vehicles that can acquire knowledge, and we’ve created a platform that enables them to learn in a virtual environment up to the point where they can operate in real-life situations and undertake various tasks. We’ve been putting all our expertise into this since 2016, to fulfil our promise as an innovator and establish Delfox as one of France’s iconic startups.

How did the Delfox adventure begin?

It all began when an artificial intelligence and math whiz met a passionate entrepreneur! Maxime (Rey, Delfox’s other co-founder) and I are convinced that, by combining entrepreneurship and research, we can deliver far-reaching and ever-evolving innovations. That’s how we conceived Delfox, and we’ve got our sights firmly set on taking it right to the forefront of artificial intelligence (AI).

In a world that’s increasingly focused on artificial intelligence, what sets Delfox apart?

Oh, the number of times we’ve heard “everyone’s into artificial intelligence”! Our positioning is what makes us special. Most of the AI solutions we develop are state-of-the-art, cutting-edge and beyond. Our goal is to move from laboratory-based to operational as quickly as possible so that we can deliver ground-breaking AI wherever it’s needed.

How did your collaboration with ArianeGroup begin?

It was through a competition run by Aerospace Valley, an aerospace competitiveness hub in France. We demonstrated that Delfox AI technologies could help ArianeGroup to move towards automation for more reliable detection, identification and monitoring of objects in space.

Tell us a bit about your teams, what motivates them, what inspires them.

We’re a team of 12 young experts based in Bordeaux, France, and there’s only one word to describe us – passionate! We all feel the same way and are working towards the same goal: transforming quite immature technologies into usable, robust, reliable innovations so that we can continue to challenge science and use AI to meet our customers’ complex requirements. Delfox will be a key player in AI, a unicorn!

What can we wish you for the future?

There’s never been anything like the COVID-19 crisis we’re facing today. So much is being questioned, everything’s in a state of flux. But when we look further ahead, we think we will be operating in a very different world, with new ways of producing, consuming, moving around. I really believe that artificial intelligence will come into its own, as will Delfox: wish us the ability to live up to our promise!