François Pouilloux, CTO: “For ITD, investment in vocational training is not negotiable”

Because investing in human capital is never a bad idea, IT-Development (ITD) has made training its focus. François Pouilloux, CTO at ITD since 2013, tells us how the company opened the doors of the famous Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to him to improve his knowledge of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
 

MIT is an elite school; how did it present itself to you?

François Pouilloux: “To become a leader in its sector of activity, ITD knows that it is essential to rely on the best profiles. In addition to the degrees and professional experience of each one, it welcomes many alternates and encourages learning throughout our careers. After 6 years of technological development within the company, I wanted to refresh my knowledge of AI in order to exploit the state of the art in our future developments. A will that I shared with Jérôme Perret, our CEO. We had already spotted this certificate from the MIT business school that met our expectations. And, I was able to register on the first session available after the holidays. A real chance for me, because it was taken care of 100% by ITD.”
 

How does this training work?

F.P.: “It is a distance learning course, divided into 6 modules and organized over 6 weeks. The courses are taught by renowned MIT lecturers, both from the Business School (MIT Sloan) and the laboratory dedicated to AI (MIT CSAIL). Each module is composed of:

• recorded video interviews,
• discussion forums led by two professionals from the sector,
• self-evaluation,
• casebook (articles, online applications & videos),
• a written assignment evaluated each week.

Everything is very rhythmic and well defined. The teaching team and the student network are available daily to provide support.”
 

What is your assessment of this?

F.P.: “AI is a fascinating subject that is revolutionizing our daily lives and will have a profound impact on our future. I have spent many hours exploring the different facets of it in order to establish my own vision. I was keen to get good reviews, ITD allowed me to clear the time needed to reach my goal and I’m pretty happy with the result. Moreover, it was very nice to be able to follow from France, such as prestigious speakers. Modern educational tools make training really accessible. In the United States, and particularly in institutions like MIT, there is a great deal of permeability between business and research laboratories. This makes it possible to mix technology and business issues intelligently and quickly. This approach was particularly rewarding.”
 

As a manager at ITD, how do you encourage your teams to train?

F.P.: “Under the leadership of our CEO, we offer 2 days of training per month to each employee. Free time to explore new possibilities individually, study and improve your knowledge. We also encourage meetings with peers working in other contexts. Many of our developers participate in events such as Meetups. Our goal at ITD is everyone to be responsible and autonomous to become master of his knowledge and actor in the company’s development.”