Jerome Pesenti, entrepreneur and former head of AI at Meta, joins Owkin’s board of directors

Jerome was most recently VP of AI at Meta, leading the company’s AI research and applied AI teams. A 25 year-veteran of AI, Jerome was also CEO of BenevolentTech, the technology division of BenevolentAI, a leading clinical-stage AI-enabled drug discovery and development company. Before this, Jerome was VP at IBM Watson, where he led the creation and development of the IBM Watson Platform. Jerome joined IBM after it acquired Vivisimo, a tech firm specializing in text mining and enterprise search engines, which he co-founded in 2000.

Jerome was also a visiting scientist at Carnegie Mellon University’s computer science department, researching text mining and AI. He also served as co-chair of an independent review on the growth of AI commissioned by the UK government, which led to an innovation deal that solidified partnerships between the government and the tech industry. Jerome is an alumnus of the École Normale Supérieure in Paris with a Ph.D. in pure maths and degrees in philosophy and cognitive sciences.

Jerome is joining a board of directors led by experienced figures from the biopharmaceutical industry and leading venture capital funds.

Thomas Clozel MD, Founder and CEO of Owkin, said:

Jerome’s experience at the top of the AI industry, as well as in academia, make him one of the most prolific innovators in the AI field. He is joining Owkin’s board at a crucial time in our journey to becoming the world’s leading AI biotech company. As a fellow French-American innovator, he is a perfect match for Owkin and we are excited to grow with his guidance.

Jerome Pesenti said:

AI has made tremendous progress in the past few years in its ability to understand and engineer biology and chemistry. Owkin is one of the most innovative biotech companies that stands to benefit from this AI revolution, thanks to its unique access to high-quality clinical data. I am excited to help make it happen.