Lunch at the Circle event on October 14, 2024

Integrating AI in our daily business – a threat or a panacea, with Thor Whalen

Thor Whalen co-founded and was the CTO of the originally French AI innovation company OtoSense, which was based in Silicon Valley and was then acquired by Analog Devices (https://otosense.analog.com).

Thor will share his experience with OtoSense and his journey of implementing AI into business operations.

Thor will be able to share his hands-on view and vision for the future of the LLM invasion and give us some pros and cons concerning its use in our daily businesses.

We’ll discuss how difficult it was and still is to integrate AI effectively into business operations and propose some of the main reasons why this is the case.

Next, we’ll explore how generative AI has expanded possibilities, making language-based tasks—content generation, data extraction, and research—more accessible than ever. This opens up new opportunities for workflow automation, insights from unstructured data, and collaboration tools, but it also introduces risks like privacy concerns, bias, and overreliance on AI.

Thor will provide practical advice on what to do—and what to avoid—when integrating these technologies into your business, along with strategic considerations like balancing automation with human oversight and investing in AI literacy. He will also share some predictions on where this space is heading and how you can position yourself to take advantage of these evolving tools.

Key areas of focus may include (depending on the exchanges):

• Opportunities: Data-driven insights, task automation, augmenting human expertise, new product offerings, and multilingual support.
• Risks: Privacy, bias, overconfidence, and the challenge of maintaining collaboration quality.

Finally, we’ll discuss strategic approaches to AI integration, including exploring open-source alternatives and ensuring human oversight in AI workflows.

Thor Whalen bio

Thor Whalen is an American-born data scientist who spent most of his formative years studying in France (and Italy and Germany). He earned a PhD in mathematics (specialising in graph theory) and a Masters in computer science from Emory University, USA. His career spans diverse sectors, focusing primarily on data science consulting in business process analysis and automation, online marketing, behavioural modelling, natural language processing, and sound recognition.

Thor co-founded OtoSense, a Silicon Valley-based AI company specialising in sound and vibration analytics for predictive maintenance, security, and healthcare. As the CTO, he led the development of innovative AI-driven software solutions until Analog Devices acquired the company. Following the acquisition, he transitioned to Director of AI and Machine Learning at Analog Devices, where he refined his software architecture and design expertise.

In 2022, Thor moved back to France, where he continues contributing to the open-source community, developing tools to improve development velocity and enhance human-machine communication. He is also an active consultant, helping businesses craft AI strategies and software solutions while conducting workshops on cutting-edge technologies. His career reflects a blend of deep technical knowledge and a commitment to making technology more accessible and effective for various industries.

Contact us if you would like to participate in this L@C lunch event in Paris on October 14, 2024.

AI-generated charts based on human-written tasting notes comparing wine characteristics from the Loire and Steiermark, as used by the CMB Concours Mondial de Bruxelles