Pau: an AI festival backed by TotalEnergies

A series of conferences and challenges over three days focused on generative artificial intelligence and data processing - a team of Data Scientists from the CSTJF took part. Since 2018, the association IA-PAU has been aiming to become a facilitator in artificial intelligence, and brings together researchers, professors, students, entrepreneurs and members of the public to work on information and data processing issues. By merging the economic sphere, the academic world and the general public through events and collaborative projects, IA-PAU federates the local IA community to raise questions about the opportunities and risks in this sector. The 2023 edition of the #IAPAU5 festival took place from December 1-3, the first day being dedicated to conferences on the topic of generative AI, with the aim of analyzing the future and the impacts that are already visible. The next two days were given over to a Data Challenge - an opportunity for the participants (students) to challenge themselves on actual problems put forward by partner companies.

Interview with Claire Fournier, Team Lead from Datalab, Eliana Raad-Lombardie, IT Project Manager & Citizen Data Scientist Lead from Datalab and Blandine Cailly, Head of Data Quality and Modeling and Datalab Sponsor.

With your team from the Datalab are behind the initiative to support the Pau AI festival. Why is that?

Eliana is a member of the IA-PAU association, and suggested to the team that we sponsor the event. At the Datalab, we develop Data Management solutions based on data science, including generative IA. It was an opportunity to go and meet our peers, students and an entire local ecosystem to discuss IA issues with. We live in a region where we want to have positive interactions, and we are also longstanding partners of the Hélioparc technohub, which is behind the IA-PAU festival. The TotalEnergies participants are part of the Company’s Data (Data Tech) and IT (TGITS) teams.

Daniel Busby scientific IT engineer and R&D project manager specialized in artificial intelligence presented a pitch entitled "Generative AI @ DataTech Search & Scientific Computing".

What is the Datalab?

In short, the DataLab is a multi-disciplinary team from the data and IT worlds, who develop solutions for data management based on Data Science. The DataLab team leads a community of Citizen Data Scientists trained in AI techniques and best practices, and organizes different events on the theme. Our aim is to provide innovative solutions to meet users' actual needs. Data are at the heart of Company operations and are being used to build its digital transformation strategy and ambition.

Does generative AI already have its place at TotalEnergies?

TotalEnergies is a data heavyweight which operates one of the most powerful supercomputers in the world for numerical simulations and data analyses. The Company shows constant commitment to rolling out AI solutions to support its transformation and develop its new activities as a leader of the energy transition. Generative AI is at the core of many developments in the Company, in particular in the Datalab.

Can you give us a tangible example that is very meaningful for you?

We use generative AI to improve the tools we have developed using Data Science. The results are flabbergasting. For example, generative AI combined with our data science tools has helped significantly improve the results of metadata extraction from documents. We are working on hundreds of thousands of documents, from which key information needs to be automatically extracted so that they can easily be found by users who need them.

What would you say to young people, and perhaps more specifically to young women, to encourage them to pursue a career in Data?

Don’t hold back. Give it a try - the data professions are fascinating, full of future promise and we need young talent. Women are more than welcome!