AI may be making the headlines, but Vincent Luciani is keeping a relatively low profile. Yet his company, Artefact, is a true success story from which many entrepreneurs can draw inspiration.
As a child, Vincent Luciani was passionate about chess. Although he often won against his little friends, he systematically lost out to the first artificial intelligences. “So, from an early age, I was confronted with AI,” smiles this pragmatist, for whom the best way to dominate it… is to create it.
Cursus honorum
As luck would have it, this Parisian, son of a physics researcher at the French Atomic Energy Commission and a schoolbook publisher, has a knack for math. After studying at Polytechnique, he spent four years at McKinsey as a consultant.” I have some excellent memories of that time,” he says, ”when we went on assignment abroad for several months at a time”. From London to Istanbul, by way of Amsterdam and Tel Aviv, the young man’s observation is the same: “Analyzing data well, thanks to the beginnings of artificial intelligence, enables us to save business models and improve services, but few players realized it”.
Towards entrepreneurship
In 2015, he took the step and launched Artefact with Guillaume de Roquemaurel and Philippe Rolet. “At the time, no one could say ‘I have 25 years’ experience in AI’, we had to clear the way, everything was new and my youth wasn’t a handicap.” However, the early days were difficult, and Vincent Luciani recalls the months spent “preaching in the desert”, canvassing customers, crossing Paris by metro with his briefcase and his ideas…
An original business model
The company quickly took off thanks to an original business model. Artefact does not reflect the general public’s idea of an AI heavyweight: Vincent Luciani is discrete and not a guru, the company prides itself on not raising funds, and does not promote its brand. But it’s a hit!
Headquartered in two discreet Haussmann buildings a stone’s throw from the Grands Boulevards, the company boasts sales of over 200 million euros, a presence in 25 countries and 1,700 employees, 60% of whom are international. The secret of its success?
“Our positioning. We’re a hybrid player, both a tech group and a consulting firm”. To keep things simple, Artefact installs AI solutions directly in companies, working for major groups such as Orange, Engie, BNP, L’Oréal, but also ETIs and SMEs. The latter own the intellectual property of the solutions created by their service provider, a sort of deus ex machina. Artefact is therefore not a competitor to Mistral AI, Open AI and other media groups. On the other hand, the Frenchies are competing with Cap Gemini and Accenture in a high-growth market.
To accelerate development, Vincent Luciani has a few golden rules: bet on external growth, recruit as many sales engineers as developers, don’t be afraid of profiles better than yourself. “In a way, you have to try to make yourself useless,” half-jokes the entrepreneur, who recently appointed an executive chairman to fill the position.
Mountain, family and ju-jitsu
Despite the group’s insolent growth, Vincent Luciani is determined not to be “eaten up”. There are some things he just can’t sacrifice: time for his wife and two young children, but also for the sport he enjoys so much. His passions? Climbing, hiking and Brazilian ju-jitsu. “In fact, I’m working on opening a gym dedicated to this sport”, says Vincent Luciani. Once an entrepreneur, always an entrepreneur…
Lucas Jakubowicz
