Professional Career
Despite numerous experiences both in terms of roles assumed (developer, teacher, technical architect, open source consultant, functional expert, pre-sales, project manager, product manager, technical director, manager) and domains explored (public sector, health, banking, transportation, industry), I consider myself an IT architect.
Studies, Between Two Continents
After studying science in Senegal and then in France, I joined the National Institute of Telecommunications through its business school and finished my last year in the engineering school, specializing in corporate networks.
I then completed my military service as a cooperating agent in Senegal (the birth country of my mother where I grew up from 6 to 18 years old), working as a computer science teacher and internet manager at the Multinational Higher School of Telecommunications ESMT (French) from 1997 to 1999.
Architecture, Open Source, and... Architecture
Returning to France in 1999, in Paris (where I have lived since), I joined Sema Group as a technical architect. The company changed its name following acquisitions and mergers (Sema, SchlumbergerSema, Atos Origin, Atos). The Atos period roughly coincided with my specialization in Open Source: participating in the creation of the Open Source Center, in charge of monitoring and consulting activities, creating the method and the free project QSOS... while continuing to support or design the architecture of solutions for clients.
In 2013, I moved to Worldline (then still a subsidiary of the Atos group) as a product manager and then architect in the unit in charge of major governmental projects. There, I gained the dimension of enterprise architect, participating in and then taking charge of the design and pre-sales of information systems.
For me, the profession of an architect is that of a polyglot, capable of understanding and translating the languages of the different stakeholders involved in the architecture of a solution or an information system, each with its own challenges and constraints (strategic, organizational, business, technological, infrastructure, etc.).
Technical Evangelist, Head of DevRel
My previous experiences in communication and popularization around technology (teaching, architecture consulting, open source monitoring, speaking, pre-sales of major projects) naturally led me to take responsibility for a DevRel team (for Developer Relations) in charge of technological evangelism both internally and externally at Worldline.
Speaker
I started to give talks in technical events many years ago and continue to do so as a DevRel today. Here is a glimpse of my topics.
Agentic AI - The Future Beyond LLMs: Exploring Agentic AI
What exactly are AI Agents, and how do they operate? How do they compare to and interact with LLMs and functionalities such as function calling, chain-of-thought processing, assistants, tools, or actions? In this talk, I delve into the unique features of Agentic AI, including perception, state estimation, goal setting, planning, and action selection & execution. We will define various levels of Agentic AI and form a map to help navigate this emerging landscape. By categorizing current agent-based or agent-related solutions with practical examples, we'll provide an overview of the current state of Agentic AI.
Talk given at:
- Devoxx Morocco 2024, Marrakesh, Morocco: slides
- TechForum 2024, Stockholm, Sweden (Worldline's internal technical conference)
Generative AI - Chat with your Documents: Discover the magic of RAG with and without OpenAI
This talk explores the revolutionary concept of Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) in Large Language Models. Participants gain practical insights into implementing RAG using OpenAI and various open-source alternatives, including hands-on demonstrations with Node.js and Jupyter Notebook. Attendees learn about customizing LLMs, mastering embeddings, and discovering innovative tools like Flowise, ANythingLLM, RAGFlow, Dify and Hugging Face models. The talk concludes with a look at the future of RAG and its implications for developers and businesses, highlighting the dynamic advancements from major tech players and the open-source community.
Talk given at:
- DevDay 2024, Mons, Belgium (French): slides
Generative AI - From OpenAI to Opensource AI: Navigating Between Commercial Ownership and Collaborative Openness
This presentation explores the evolution of generative AI, highlighting the trajectories of various models such as GPT-4, and examining the dynamics between commercial interests and the ethics of open collaboration. We offer an in-depth analysis of the levels of openness of different language models, assessing various components and aspects, and exploring how the (de)centralization of computing power and technology could shape the future of AI research and development. Additionally, we explore concrete examples like LLaMA and its descendants, as well as other open and collaborative projects, which illustrate the diversity and creativity in the field, while navigating the complex waters of intellectual property and licensing.
Talk given at:
- Normandie.ai 2024, Rouen, France (French): slides
- Open Source Experience 2024, Paris, France (French): slides
- Open Community Experience 2024, Mainz, Germany: slides replay
- Cloud Nord 2024, Lille, France (French): slides replay
- AI_dev Europe 2024, Paris, France: slides replay
- TechForum 2024, Seclin, France (Worldline's internal technical conference): replay
- I LOVE Tech 2024, Timisoara, Romania: slides
- State of Open 2024, London, UK: slides replay
Architecture - The hitchhiker's guide to software architecture and design (with my colleague Alexandre Touret)
Designing a new platform is always tricky to set up. How to start? What is the best strategy to adopt while designing a platform? What kind of architecture should we deploy: event streaming, orchestration, or choreography? For a brand-new platform: "Donut @ Home", we will proceed a live architecture study. After analyzing the customer needs, brainstorming, and exchanging our ideas, we will choose among all the potential solutions the least worst option. You will be asked to validate our design and the different implementation examples. At the end of this talk, you will have tips and tricks for thinking about it and starting working on architecture studies in complete peace of mind.
Talk given at:
Decentralization - Towards a Redecentralization of the Internet: Exploring Current Technologies and Initiatives
The Web and Internet are constantly evolving, and a crucial question arises: how can we (re)decentralize these platforms to ensure an open, resilient and privacy-respecting Internet? In this presentation, we will explore a comprehensive overview of the various current initiatives and technologies contributing to this (re)decentralization. We will delve into the exciting world of Web3 with its concepts of blockchain, dApps, consensus, and DLT. We will also discover the promises of Web 3.0, including projects such as Solid and the semantic web. We will then explore the Fediverse, an ecosystem of decentralized social networks, as well as Holochain, a peer-to-peer application development technology.
Talk given at:
Web3 - Understand the architecture of Web3
Web3, blockchain, cryptocurrencies, tokens, wallet, NFT, smart contract, dApp, DAO… It’s about taking a step back from the buzzwords and speculative bubbles to better understand what is happening in the background: re-decentralization of the Internet! This presentation is the map that I would have liked to have had at the start of my exploration of the enormous ecosystem that is the decentralized Internet (or Web3 as it is sometimes incorrectly called).
Talk given at:
Open Source
- Open Source Experience 2024, Paris, France (French): round table "The Art of Evaluating Open Source: Cross Perspectives from Free Software Experts"
- Several talks on open source and my QSOS project given in French at the Solution Linux event (Paris, France) between 2006 and 2009. Some slides are available on SlideShare.
Writer
I publish articles on several media:
- Technical blogs or platforms - Technical articles on DEV.to and on the Worldline Engineering Blog (I also cross-post some article on Medium).
- Technical newspapers - Few years ago I used to regularly publish in the French GNU Linux MAgazine France and Linux Pratique newspapers. Some articles have been digitalized and are still accessible on this platform.
- Articles on Yoga - On my YogĀrkana website or in the French Le Journal du Yoga newspaper.
Other media
YouTube - I sometimes publish videos on the Tech at Worldline channel and even have a specific playlist dedicated to generative AI called GenAI's Lamp.
Podcast - I was once invited to a French podcast on open source models. I'd like one day, when I find time for this, to create a podcast on Yoga and Somatic practices...