Learn how to accelerate the transition
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Sonia Artinian-Fredou
It takes a long time to move from lab-based R&D to implementation. This isn’t like the software industry, where new versions are released very quickly. In our sectors, we need time to see how innovations perform.
A graduate of the École des Ponts et Chaussées and the École Normale Supérieure, Sonia Artinian-Fredou possesses a rare combination of skills: the scientific rigor of the life sciences and the operational excellence of major industrial groups. After 15 years in strategic consulting (Capgemini Invent), she led major operations at Lafarge before joining Michelin’s Executive Committee to oversee new technology initiatives (“Beyond Tires”).
She now brings this expertise to FIND Climate, an accelerator dedicated to industrial startups (Deeptech) that are building the carbon-free factories of tomorrow.
Program Summary
From the boardroom to the factory floor: the reality of the industrial age
The shift from strategic consulting to heavy industrial operations (construction materials) highlights a fundamental difference in timeframes.
Unlike software, the materials industry (cement, concrete) is governed by the laws of chemistry and physics. Innovation in this sector requires lengthy validation cycles to ensure the structural safety of buildings.
Controlling this inertia, combined with effective management of on-site teams, is essential for achieving a sustainable transformation of polluting production processes.
"Beyond Tires": How an Industrial Giant Is Reinventing Itself
The example of Michelin illustrates how a century-old company can accelerate the transition of its business model by leveraging its long-standing expertise: materials science.
The strategy involves distinguishing between operations (the core business) and exploration (new areas such as hydrogen or biomaterials).
This approach requires a very long-term vision (30 years), a culture of intrapreneurship, and the ability to forge technological partnerships (joint ventures, open innovation) to overcome technological barriers beyond the company’s usual scope.
The Era of Impact-Driven Industrial Startups
In response to the climate emergency, a new category of companies is emerging: industrial impact startups. These companies, some of which have been around for 10 or 20 years, are facing the challenge of "scaling up": moving beyond the laboratory to build their first-of-a-kind plant.
Innovations such as additive manufacturing (3D concrete printing) make it possible to drastically reduce material usage. However, their success depends on the creation of robust local ecosystems (such as in the Île-de-France region) that bring together funding, land, and technical expertise to reindustrialize regions in a sustainable manner.
Deep In Tech by Dynergie
Deep in Tech is driven by a core belief: to understand Deeptech, you have to listen to the people who are building it.
Behind every disruptive innovation lie demanding journeys, difficult trade-offs, and successes that often go unrecognized.
The podcast gives a voice to entrepreneurs, researchers, investors, and industry leaders at the intersection of science and the market.
At the heart of the Deeptech ecosystem’s challenges, Deep in Tech lifts the veil on the behind-the-scenes of a world as complex as it is strategic. Industrialization, financing, the transition from lab to market…
These journeys, often fraught with obstacles, are recounted candidly by those who experience them firsthand.
The podcast offers an authentic look at the inner workings, tensions, and collaborations that shape both the successes and failures of French Deeptech.
A space to understand the reality on the ground, from the perspective of those involved, far from formulaic narratives.
Florence Caghassi Jouni
With Deep in Tech, I meet the people who are shaping the deep tech landscape every day. They share their journeys, struggles, challenges, and successes with me—unfiltered. I created this podcast to help everyone understand and navigate the complex and exciting ecosystem that is deep tech.
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