Julien Simon

Julien Simon is a prominent voice in artificial intelligence (AI) and technology, recognised for his expertise and transformative contributions to the field. With a career spanning over 20 years, he has built a reputation as both a technical leader and a visionary communicator, bridging the gap between complex AI concepts and real-world applications.

Julien’s early career laid a solid foundation in the telecom industry, where he gained hands-on experience in software engineering and operations. His drive for innovation led him into the startup world, where he spent a decade as a Chief Technology Officer at Viadeo, Vice President of Engineering for Criteo and other prominent roles. Here, he managed large, distributed teams and infrastructure at scale, gaining invaluable insight into software development, cloud computing, and system resilience—all skills that would prove essential in the evolving AI landscape.

In 2016, Julien took on a pivotal role at Amazon Web Services (AWS) as the Global Technical Evangelist for AI and Machine Learning. Over six years, he became a trusted guide for developers and enterprises, helping them leverage AWS’s AI and ML capabilities. His work at AWS centred on demystifying AI and making it accessible to businesses across industries, from finance and healthcare to logistics and retail. Julien’s commitment to empowering others through technology made him one of AWS’s most respected public faces, especially in AI and ML domains.

Julien’s passion for open-source AI and his desire to contribute further led him to join Hugging Face as Chief Evangelist, a leader in open-source machine learning known for its groundbreaking transformer models. As Chief Evangelist, he played a central role in engaging the community, advancing machine learning research, and promoting Hugging Face’s tools for developers and enterprises. His influence helped make Hugging Face a go-to platform for developers exploring NLP and other AI applications.

In 2024, Julien joined Arcee AI as Chief Evangelist, focusing on the development of Small Language Models (SLMs) tailored for specialised business needs. His work at Arcee AI highlights his commitment to democratizing AI by making it adaptable, efficient, and accessible for companies of all sizes. Julien Simon’s extensive experience, from startup leadership to evangelism at tech giants, positions him uniquely as a highly knowledgeable and inspiring keynote speaker. His ability to distil complex AI topics into practical insights, along with his deep technical expertise, makes him a sought-after speaker who can offer valuable perspectives on AI’s potential to reshape industries and empower innovation. Julien has been awarded an official client rating of 8.9 for his work as as AI keynote speaker, yet another indication that you should consider hiring him as a keynote speaker for your next AI event. Enquire today!