45.1% of the companies surveyed by PwC in its report on artificial intelligence (AI) are not deploying it due to a lack of knowledge, 37.2% because they have no idea of the return on investment to be expected, 37.2% due to a lack of qualified staff or the possibility of training teams, 23.5% due to a lack of financial resources and 21.6%... because of the rules on the use of data. At a time when it is difficult to know where the country really stands, the study presented at ICT Spring highlights concrete needs to be met, but less so the aspirations of the various parties.
Four years after prime minister (DP) and his ebullient minister for the economy, (LSAP), presented two strategic documents on artificial intelligence, one thing is certain: Luxembourg has not become an artificial intelligence hotspot, either in the world or in Europe. So much so that the ecosystem is teeming with entrepreneurs looking at joint projects in different sectors. Is that fantastic? Yes, but at the rate at which other countries and ecosystems are moving, we need to move faster. Thinking together, testing together, adapting together, the key to everything being access to enough data to move forward.
What we’re doing is in no way less interesting than what other, more high-profile companies are doing. The excitement around AI is an excellent opportunity for Luxembourg to become a hub.
“We’re a small company. But what we’re doing is no less interesting than what other, more high-profile companies are doing. The excitement around AI is a great opportunity for Luxembourg to become a hub. And if that were to happen, we as a company would want to contribute to it," said Talkwalker CEO Lokdeep Singh as a call to action ahead of October’s parliamentary elections. “The government needs to decide that Luxembourg wants to become an AI hub. We would like to be part of that and have discussions about how to educate the industry or any other role we can play to foster that development. I believe Talkwalker has been and will continue to be a success story for Luxembourg.”
A talent strategy
“We need to create some sort of association of a few companies, not to promote ourselves, but to promote Luxembourg as a hub for artificial intelligence. We are very proud of what we do. If we can help push forward the agenda for the realisation of this hub, because we are deeply rooted in Luxembourg, we are there,” Singh explained.
“The first barrier to more widespread adoption of artificial intelligence is that everyone is excited, but at the same time a little scared of what might happen. We could sort that out quite easily really. The second is that it should enable us to attract the talent we all need. You know I haven’t been in Luxembourg that long, but my knowledge of Luxembourg before I came was very limited. What we see is that when we succeed in attracting talent here through our project and they stay for six months on an internship, for example, they understand that there is a price to pay, but that there is a quality of life. But if you don’t experience it, the only thing you see is the price you have to pay! And you ask yourself ‘why would I go there?’”
Machine learning VP Benedikt Wilbertz is taking advantage of the courses he is giving at the Sorbonne and in Munich to attract the talent Talkwalker needs. There are projects in Luxembourg that are second to none, he said. Photo: Talkwalker
Talkwalker’s secret lies in its machine learning VP Benedikt Wilbertz. Wilbertz was a post-doctoral student at Paris VI and became a recognised professor there, as well as at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich. “My students at the Sorbonne are looking for six-month placements. You have a lot of talent there.”
“It’s very selective,” Singh interrupted. “And they stay. Those who had finished with their studies stay. What’s special about Talkwalker is the large amount of data and we understood that we needed research and innovation to stay ahead of the game. There aren’t many other companies that can offer them that!”
Confronted with Luxembourg’s housing costs and serious mobility issues, would potential talents prefer to look at Paris where they can telework more often and where the projects are perhaps more interesting? The two men shook their heads. “I can only speak for Talkwalker,” says Wilbertz, “but we can compete perfectly well with any project. One of our latest recruits came from London because he was bored there and the projects he was working on were rubbish. He was so happy!”
This story was first published in French on . It has been translated and edited for Delano.