In this episode of the Redefining Society Podcast, Marco Ciappelli interviews François Bitouzet to recap the revolutionary Viva Tech 2024 event in Paris.
Guest: François Bitouzet, Managing Director at Viva Technology [@VivaTech]
On LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/fran%C3%A7ois-bitouzet-180a89/
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Host: Marco Ciappelli, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine [@ITSPmagazine] and Host of Redefining Society Podcast
On ITSPmagazine | https://www.itspmagazine.com/itspmagazine-podcast-radio-hosts/marco-ciappelli
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Episode Notes
Event Recap and Highlights
Marco Ciappelli opens the discussion with a warm greeting, reflecting on his recent travel experiences and upcoming conferences. François Bitouzet, the guest of honor, then dives straight into the heart of the Viva Tech 2024 event, providing detailed insights into its scope, significance, and impact.
An Overview of Viva Tech
François explains that Viva Tech is a four-day event held annually in Paris, focusing on bringing together stakeholders in the innovation sphere. This year’s event saw the participation of 155,000 attendees from 120 countries, showcasing thousands of startups, tech leaders from companies like Google and Meta, corporate giants such as Audi and LVMH, as well as public sector representatives.
The Unique Format and Initiatives
One of the most distinctive features of Viva Tech 2024 was its two-fold format. For the first three days, the event catered to the B2B audience, allowing startups and investors to network and collaborate. On the final day, it opened its doors to the general public. This approach aimed to make technology accessible to everyone, regardless of their professional background.
François highlighted various initiatives like the “100+100” program, where 100 successful business women in tech spent a day mentoring young girls. This not only promoted diversity and inclusion but also inspired the next generation to pursue careers in technology.
Focus on AI and Other Innovations
While Artificial Intelligence (AI) was a major talking point, François emphasized that the event delved deeper into how AI is shaping different business sectors rather than just focusing on the technology itself. By bringing in sector-specific insights, the event sought to provide a realistic perspective on the current impact and future potential of AI.
Memorable Moments and Creativity
François shared several memorable moments from the event, including a live Q&A session with Elon Musk, who joined virtually to answer unfiltered questions from the audience. This showcased the raw and authentic engagement the event aims to foster.
Another highlight was the collaboration with the European retailer FNAC, which set up a kiosk where speakers could sign books for the attendees. This initiative bridged the gap between traditional formats and modern technology, exemplifying how the old and the new can coexist harmoniously.
Looking Ahead
As the conversation winded down, Marco and François discussed the future of Viva Tech, hinting at more surprises and creative content for next year. François emphasized the importance of injecting poetry and romance—metaphorically speaking—into the world of tech to retain its human touch and inspirational value.
Call to Action
Finally, Marco encouraged listeners to make plans to attend Viva Tech 2025, expressing his excitement about potentially meeting his audience in person. François echoed this sentiment, inviting everyone to experience the blend of innovation, business, and meaningful impact that Viva Tech promises.
Conclusion
The episode concluded with both Marco and François expressing their shared optimism for the future of technology and its potential to not only transform industries but also enhance our quality of life. They agreed that events like Viva Tech are crucial in driving this change by making technology accessible, inclusive, and genuinely impactful.
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Resources
Learn more about VIVA TECH 2024: https://vivatechnology.com/
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The Future of Tech and Society at Viva Tech 2024 | An On Location VIVA TECH Conference 2024 Coverage Conversation with François Bitouzet
Please note that this transcript was created using AI technology and may contain inaccuracies or deviations from the original audio file. The transcript is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a substitute for the original recording, as errors may exist. At this time, we provide it “as it is,” and we hope it can be helpful for our audience.
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[00:00:00] Marco Ciappelli: Hello, everybody. We are back. I mean, I'm back. I'm back in LA after a lot of travel. I cover a few conferences in Europe, in San Francisco, and there is few more coming. This is, as a matter of fact, an event and, uh, and conference coverage session, which is also for my Redefining Society podcast, because we're going to talk about an event that embrace society and technology and the people.
Past, the present and the future. I lately make a joke that when you go to this conference, you kind of have a crystal ball and you see the players that are going to shape the future in technology. And, uh, Unfortunately, I didn't make it to this event, but I just promised once again to Francois here on the show that I will make it next year.
And I'm talking about Viva Tech in Paris, which spoke before the event, Francois, and we're going to talk about what happened. Actually, during the event, it was about a month ago, but never late to talk about something successful. So, welcome back to the show. It's always great to have you. A French person, an Italian talking about technology and society with our accents.
It's always entertaining. So, welcome back, Francois.
[00:01:18] François Bitouzet: Yeah. Hello, everyone. And Marco, for the invitation. I'm so happy and so glad to be with you today.
[00:01:26] Marco Ciappelli: Always a good time and an opportunity to learn about, like I said, what's going on in the world of technology. So I would love for you, for the people that haven't heard you before, I do encourage to listen to the episode that we recorded before the event.
Again, that was about a month ago. But, um, yeah, a little bit about yourself, a little bit about, uh, Viva Tech, and then we, we can go into memory lane, even if it's fresh memory, I believe.
[00:01:56] François Bitouzet: Yeah, yeah, but, uh, it's really it's an opportunity because we had this chat a few weeks ago, and now we are able to discuss about what happened at Vivatech 2024.
And it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a great success. So first of all, what is Vivatech? Vivatech, it's a four day event in, uh, in Paris, uh, every year. And the purpose of, uh, Vivatech is to bring together at the same table, All the stakeholders of innovation from a B2B point of view. So we have thousands of startups.
We have tech leaders like Google, Meta, IBM. We have also a lot of corporate sector representatives. We have companies like LVMH, Audi, Tesla. Uh, uh, Verizon, uh, uh, uh, Abe, et cetera. So, uh, all of them, they are, uh, global leaders in their own field of business in something like 25 business, uh, sectors. And we have also, uh, public sectors with something like 40 PAs, national pers, so all of them, what they do, and investors of course.
All of them for four days. There's a kind of a world expo, you know, uh, about, uh, tech digital startup. And today VivaTech, it's the largest event in, uh, in, uh, in Europe. So, um, this edition, uh, uh, uh, was a great success. And, uh, I'm not the one who says that, uh, it's the media and. Hopefully, uh, the attendees and the, and the partners, just to give you an idea.
Uh, this year we have welcome more than 155, 000 people coming from 120 countries. So basically the world of innovation. Met ATech and it was, uh, it was great because everybody was, uh, talking about, of course, AI also sustainabilities. We had thousands, uh, of, uh, uh, exclusivity, uh, in, uh, innovation. It was very lively.
Sometime people, uh. You together because they don't agree. And I think it's great to have also this kind of debate. And we had the opportunity to have amazing debate with people like, uh, uh, Elon Musk, uh, John Kerry, uh, Robin Lee from, uh, Baidu. Um, Um, so it was, it was great. Uh, honestly, it was a, it was a blast.
[00:04:31] Marco Ciappelli: I, I love to hear that. And I remember on our past conversation. Uh, the one before we were talking about the reference to the historical international trade fair, like the famous one in San Francisco, New York and in Paris as well.
There's been there where people were just displaying the new technology that at the time could have been maybe Edison with the light bulb or Tesla with the current, the electricity. And, uh, And now I get the feeling that at a place like that, the Viva Tech, you, you have that excitement. And, and I think the formula for, for the people that didn't, again, hear the other conversation or they haven't been there, you have a dedicated of the of the conference of the show for the B2B, like the old startup and the investors, the business, and then you open for everybody that wants to know what's going on with technology.
So I love that formula. Can you tell me a little bit more what happened during production? Those those day and what is different? What's the vibe that is different?
[00:05:46] François Bitouzet: Yes, I think it's uh, Something we are very proud of because I I think it's quite unique. So we are b2b, uh events So usually it's just for uh international buyers.
They want to know about how they will make the choice Digital transformation of their companies and you are a startup, you want to meet with investors to get a lot of cash, etc. So this is the case for three days and then on the last day on the on the saturday we open the doors to uh general public so for kids, students, senior people and everybody, your mother, my father, Your brother, et cetera, your family, et cetera.
And I think it's a very important moment. First of all, for us, it's a commitment because we, we have the convictions at tech. It's not just for the tech expert. It's for everybody because the, the, the life of everyone is impacted by, by tech. So if we want people to. Understand if we want people to be in responsibility and powered with tech in their life, in their job, in society, in democracies, and also with the environment, we have to make it accessible.
Otherwise they will scare, they will be scared, they won't understand. So first of all, it's a way to tell everyone, okay guys, don't be afraid of tech. Come at VivaTech, see experiences, talk with the startuppers, and then you, you can make up your, your mind. So first of all, uh, make it, uh, accessible. Secondly, it's a moment very important because a lot of people think that, uh, they cannot find a job in tech or in digital.
And, you know, this is the case very often for, uh, especially for women. Uh, you know, we have a big issue with, uh, uh, inclusion in tech, but also diversity. And so also the, the, this day is a Saturday. We open the door to people who usually consider that tech it's not for, uh, for, for themselves. So, uh, we have, uh, Uh, something great, especially for women.
Uh, there, there is, uh, an initiative that, that is called 100 plus 100. Uh, so we have 100, uh, successful business women in tech, so, uh, CEO, uh, fund, uh, who have proven, uh, their ability to run business and, uh, their success and who are inspiring and for one day. They take with them a young girl, a teenager, and they will spend the day all together going to conferences, meeting people, meeting innovators, startups.
And so it's a way, you know, to share the flame. And to attract, uh, this kind of, uh, of younger young people, young talent, uh, to tech. So the second very important sense, as I said, it's about HR and, uh, um, talking about, uh, job. And the third thing is the fact that we want to adapt the program, uh, to a general audience.
So for instance, this year, we had a very important focus on gaming. With, uh, uh, with the competition of League of Legend corporate, uh, league of Legend, uh, competition with a lot of streamers, uh, tech. So I think it's, it's very lively. Uh, it's a, it's a celebration. We have cosplay and everything, so it's very unusual for, for a B2B event.
But I think everybody, uh, everybody, uh, like it at the end of the day, especially the tech leaders because. For, this is the only moment in the year where they have this possibility to discuss with, with everybody and not just, you know, the people, uh, in the Silicon Valley or in the incubators, et cetera. So, uh, I, I like it, uh, very much.
Uh, it's a, it's a big challenge for everyone, but it's, I think it's like, uh, it's more than the sherry and the cake. Uh, it's a big part of the cake and we are very happy with this.
[00:09:51] Marco Ciappelli: And I love your energy on this and I love the formula because as you know, in my, in my show in redefining society, I, I always bring the concept of we cannot just follow the blinking lights and the funny noises and we can just do technology.
We shouldn't do technology because we can, we need to do it with a purpose. So the only way that you can do this is to actually feel the pulse of technology. Society of the real people that are going to use it. They may be the one to say, why is somebody not inventing this? Why don't we have this thing? I mean, I said that all the time, every time I need something, I'm like, why somebody doesn't invent it, but, but then when you put this together and you put diversity, which is very important.
You then inspire the younger generation to, to do the technology, to create the technology that is going to serve us. Talking about that, you mentioned AI, of course, everybody talks about generative AI and all the important things that are happening in every field from, I mean, even in just in the health care department, it's the innovation with AI is incredible.
Um, was this at the center of attention as much as you would expect, or your attention was driven towards even other technologies that maybe You didn't think they were going to be so interesting.
[00:11:23] François Bitouzet: I think that what we tried to do, um, we tried not to, uh, only talk about AI itself because we had the feelings that, uh, it had been done, uh, for two years and it was not exactly the purpose.
What we try to do is to take, uh, the 25. Business sectors that are represented at Jiva Tech and work with them to talk about what AI is changing on their model, on their economy, on their production factories, on their clients, etc. So the question was not AI itself, but Concretely, what, what do we have now?
Because I think that, uh, at this moment, you know, everybody's talking about ai. Some, uh, say that, uh, in 24 years, we will all live in a, in a, like a in a star metrics. Yes. Or I, I prefer the AI banks, uh, the culture novel, et cetera. But I think that the question now, uh, it's more to say, okay, guys. Stop thinking about the future, but let's have a look now to what is happening in health, uh, in, uh, in luxury, uh, in, uh, smart cities, in GovTech, uh, in, uh, transportation, et cetera.
And so let's, um, let's make action speak louder than words. And I think this, it was, we were, we tried to have a very neutral approach and think people say, Have a look and then you can make up your mind. And if you are afraid of AI, which I can understand, let's go. And let's see this startup, which is called v2affluent.
ai, which is able, thanks to digital twins for drugs, to create a new, a new treatment. Uh, um, uh, five times. It's cheaper and five times, uh, shorter than, uh, the usual, uh, health, uh, companies. And then you can say, okay, I understand what is AI. It's not just, uh, asking a CHAT GPT, uh, where I should go for my, uh, for my vacation.
You see what I mean? Because there, uh, We are talking about, uh, the true, uh, use and the true, um, uh, effectiveness of AI. And it was very, very exciting. And I think also we tried with AI, not just to have a AI specialist, even if we had people like, uh, uh, Dario Almoday, uh, Joshua Bengio or Yann LeCun, etc. But also we try to cross Uh, you know, the, uh, the, the, the look at the, this, uh, this AI things, because we have the feeling that.
AI is too big to belong only to the tech expert. Uh, in France, during World War I, we had a politician and he used to say, war is too serious just to be left to the army people. You see what I mean? And we have the, we have the feeling that AI is the same thing. It's great to have tech leaders, but it's also very important to have Uh, political side, uh, the media because, you know, everything is changing.
Also, the general public, the artist, uh, the, the sociologist, et cetera, et cetera, because it's everyone. And we have the feeling that the more people will be involved at this moment on ai, uh, uh, construction and building, the better it will be for, for, for everyone. So this is why. We have, uh, we have tried to do at Vivatech and I think it was a very specific flavor for this year and we hope for the, for the debate about, uh, about AI.
So open discussion as much as possible and concrete, concrete, concrete to avoid, uh, um, uh, fantasies and everything.
[00:15:24] Marco Ciappelli: Yeah, absolutely agree. Uh, first of all, you just said it. A lot of people refuse it without even trying it. They're like, no, I don't like it. Well, have you tried it? Do you even understand what you don't like?
What you say you don't like? So it's kind of like that situation. And then the idea that is a tool, right? So it's an application. It's, it's a, it's a big revolution. It's a huge, huge change in our society. And A, we can't stop it. B, we can't stop it. Drive it, but we need to know the potential and we need all, like you said, to be involved.
So these events are important. When you walk in there after an entire year, because I know how it works with conferences, you finish. Maybe you take a little vacation, but then you start planning for the next year. And I feel when you, when you are finally present through the days of the, of the event, you probably look at things and you have ideas for what's going to happen, you know, like what would I like to do?
What I would have done better, or would I have done different? What did inspire you and your team? What have you learned maybe from this event that maybe you want to apply to the next one?
[00:16:42] François Bitouzet: I think that what we have learned is the fact that the more creative we are about content, and the more collaborative, the better for everyone.
I'll give you an example. This year we had Um, and, uh, a dedicated avian that we pre-built, uh, with a European, uh, retailer, which which is called snack. You don't know them in, uh, in, uh, in, in the US They are specialized in, uh, in books, uh, you know, cultural, uh, cult cultural goods. And, um, so we said, uh, you know, at geotech we have a lot of people of course, who are crazy about, uh, uh, tech, et cetera, but many of them also are crazy about.
The tech culture, many of the speakers, uh, have written books and it would be great to have paper at VivaTech. And so, I love that. Yes. Uh, the pavilions that we build with them, it was like a kiosk for the speakers to come with their books and it was possible for them to, to, to sign for the, for, for, for the people.
And it was, uh, an amazing success. And I would say it was very, uh, For instance, we had Yann LeCun, you know, from Meta, Yann LeCun. I don't know how you say that in English, as a specialist in AI. And so it was right, it was here with these books and we had one, uh, one hour queue for, for people. coming with their book and having the book signed by Nia and Luca and people talking and saying to him, uh, Jan, uh, with this book, you changed my life.
And I think this is what we like at, uh, at, uh, VivaTech. We want to show that when we are talking about tech, digital, innovation, we are talking about people, the innovators, the end users. And at the end of the day, This is why we create an event because we want people to meet and to leave something special.
So this kind of thing, and I will be 100 percent honest with you. When we started to do that with FNAC, in fact, it was more because we had a place that was empty and we said, what can we do? It's too late. And now we say, wow, we have fun like an Easter egg and we want to do it more. And I give you another example.
Uh, this year, um, um, uh, Elon Musk, he wanted to come at gtech, but he, he, he couldn't for very, uh, personal and important reason, but he, he insisted, uh, to be, uh, to, to, to participate live with a, with a stream. And I was like. Yeah, but, uh, I don't really like it. It's not good for the people in the audience. And then he said, but what I want to do, I don't want to do a speech or keynote.
I just want for one hour to take live questions from, uh, from the attendance. And so it was a very special place with 4, 000 people. We had Elon Musk on a big screen and we tell, when everybody was, uh, was set, we said, okay, if you, if you want to put, to ask a question to Elon Musk, just get up, queue, and as long as we will have a time with him, we will take.
EE everybody. And the, the question was not filtered, so it was completely live. And you know, Elon Musk, you can like it, you cannot like it. But what he did for 45 minutes, it was amazing because he answered all the questions. And I can tell you some of them were very tough and I, this is this kind of moment of, uh.
Of truth that we like to, to, to propose and to provide at VivaTech among, of course, among, uh, networking, businesses, et cetera. But this is something we, this discussion with, uh, Elon Musk, it was, uh, it was something very special, very unique, I think.
[00:20:49] Marco Ciappelli: You know, I'm going to finish our conversation because we always go there.
Like one reason I will, I love to talk to you. And is. That you're not just here to promote the event. You're actually passionate about all this. I mean, I just love it. You gave me two example that then make me think that they are a way to bring traditional formats, like books, for example, you were like, people was bringing their real book.
So all the fear of, uh, books are going to disappear. I mean, people love the book, right? And, and then you say, well, no, Elon couldn't be there, but people would stand up, be present somewhere. Technology brought Elon there, but people were physically together. They were standing up like if they were in a class or in a, in a conference room and make the question.
So this goes to prove that technology, we can use it. It doesn't mean that it's going to completely change who we are. We can still make the traditional thing, but have other things. And I'll give you my own example. I was at the conference interviewing the CEO of a company and he's like, ah, you have to try it.
I got this new notebook that it's, It's pretty much a notepad, but it's all, um, it's all electronic, it's digital. And I'm like, why do you like this particular one so much? It's like, because it feels like paper, like the pen. So again, yeah, you're like, she liked the idea that she was feeling the paper when she was writing.
She didn't have to bring, you know, a huge book behind. She had all the memories she wanted all the way to archive it. It was really cool. But it was. It's still connected with who we are. And I think that's the lesson. Maybe we won't find ourselves in the matrix. I hope not. Right?
[00:22:47] François Bitouzet: I hope the same, because otherwise my job will be less interesting, I can tell you.
And I
[00:22:56] Marco Ciappelli: want to eat the real steak, I don't want the peeled one.
[00:22:59] François Bitouzet: But if we are in the matrix, I want to be in the same world as you, please make it possible, so it's going to be fun. But I think this is something what you said a little bit earlier, and this is something very important for us at VivaTech. We think that there is a new narrative about tech that is, uh, emerging.
For years, it was just tech and business, innovation and business. And it's, it was great. And it's still great because innovation needs business to grow and business needs innovation. to change and to adapt and and to to to be a more more important. But then we have a third circle that you can call meanings, that you can call sustainability, that you can call impact.
And I think It, it gives much more value to innovation and to business. And this is what we try to do also to highlight at Via Tech showing that there's, there are, uh, the models that, you know, for instance, uh, in the US with the Silicon, Silicon Valley, or in China, et cetera. But there are many, many, uh, other alternative models and they are all interesting to, uh, uh, at least to review, to know, and maybe to, to explore.
And I think that this. Three part, uh, new narrative for tech is something that is, uh, it's, it's important.
[00:24:26] Marco Ciappelli: I love it. I love it. And I, and I think that we will see more creative way to use technology in the things that we love to do every day, even the stuff that we'd like to do with our hands and, and, uh, and people can get creative and maybe give opportunity.
Remote working, having the possibility to create models on computers. You don't need to be in the same room, but it's also giving opportunity to people to learn all over the world where maybe there is not the big university. And so we can, we can now talk about the whole society. But what I know is that I really enjoy this conversation.
I can't wait, uh, to learn more. Meet you in person. I hope next year and I want to give you one more two minutes for you to kind of like, uh, make a call to action for for people that are listening to maybe start making plan to come to the next year. Like I am.
[00:25:27] François Bitouzet: First of all, I'm looking forward to welcoming everyone in June in Vivatech.
And I think that, uh, next year, what we're going to do, we will try to have more surprises. And I think that, uh, with time, maybe, uh, the tech sector, um, has lost a little bit of, you know, uh, The dream and the fantasy and, uh, maybe, uh, the crazy minds that, uh, used to be at the very, very beginning. And at VivaTech this year, I met someone telling me something very interesting that I share with you, uh, and with you all saying that it's not because, uh, tech is just about One and zero that it doesn't mean you cannot have poetry within it.
And maybe it's time. And it was about, you know, innovation, business, and, uh, impact, for instance, this new narrative. I think that injecting more and maybe again, poetry, not just like poem or like people, uh, seeing blah, blah, blah, but you see what I mean? Uh, uh, uh,
[00:26:29] Marco Ciappelli: romantic view.
[00:26:31] François Bitouzet: I think, I think it's something that can be, uh, interesting.
And I used to say that we are, we are not candid. We are optimistic people. And this is something that, uh, you know, uh, enough, uh, enough, uh, slide show, uh, uh, business plan, uh, investor sheets, et cetera. So let's put a little bit more of a poetry because it's good for, for everyone.
[00:26:54] Marco Ciappelli: I like that. I like that.
Well, I'm looking forward to that. And, uh, and I think. It gives me an idea to write a piece maybe about how we can be looking at the future, but retaining our, our way of being romantic, not, not in a romantic relationship, meaning by romanticism as music, as, as art, as painting and all of that. And you take an Italian and a French to say that.
[00:27:22] François Bitouzet: So I think it's, it's not bad.
[00:27:28] Marco Ciappelli: All right, Francois, so good to have you, uh, for everybody else, please listen to the prior conversation as well. Listen to these, make your plan for Viva Tech. I would love to see everybody there and, uh, subscribe to my podcast, to the one about covering all the event and, uh, Redefining Society, this will be on both, uh, both channels.
So. Thank you, everybody. Stay tuned. Thank you, Francois. I will see you next year for sure.
[00:27:57] François Bitouzet: Thank you, Jai. Goodbye, everyone.
[00:28:00] Marco Ciappelli: Goodbye.