Mediawen Founder and CEO Erwan de Kerautem Says France and India Are Together in Core Values for the Future of Digital and Europe; Expresses Admiration of Unified Payment Interface (UPI)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to co-chair the AI Action Summit alongside the French President Emmanuel Macron, engaging with global leaders and tech industry executives to explore AI-driven advancements for the public good.

Mediawen Founder and CEO, Erwan de Kerautem, expressed his admiration for India's Unified Payment Interface (UPI) and highlighted the collaboration between his company and Indian entities like Reverie and Braahmam International in an interview with ANI. He stated that France and India are working together to establish a "third way" in the digital realm.

“We are a software editor, French-based, a French startup. We've been working hard for the last 10 years and I met seven years ago a company called Reverie. Reverie was founded by two brothers, Vivek and Arvind Pani and they created a company to digitalize Indian languages. As you know, you have many languages in India. We have many also in Europe. And I immediately felt that we could work together. Now, Reverie belongs to Reliance and we met again last year and we now implement 11 languages on our video localization platform, meaning we can transcribe, translate, and dub in speech synthesis in 11 Indian languages,” said Kerautem.

“So, together we can address many needs in e-learning, education, marketing, entertainment and so on. And because AI is not perfect, it depends on the number of data and qualified data you have. So, we have a third partner, Indian based also, called Braahmam International and Braahmam is what we call a LSP (Language service provider). They have 25 years of experience in India and worldwide. So, they have the linguists to correct the AI provided, Indian-based AI provided by Reverie,” he added.

Kerautem also expressed his alignment with India on key issues of AI for the future, such as data privacy, sovereignty, and inclusive solutions. He noted that both countries share democratic values and that the collaboration is driven by trust and respect for regulations.

“So, this is the announcement we made and why do we take the opportunity of the summit? First, because French-Indian collaboration, so they are the two presidents, chairs, chairmen of the summit. And also because we align on some key issues of AI for the future, meaning data privacy, data sovereignty, and also I mean, working for inclusive solutions, respecting some regulations. There is nothing against regulation. We have a perimeter and we play in this perimeter. If we have health data or security content, we need to protect it,” he said.

“I feel that we are two democratic countries and I feel very much that France and India are together in the core values for the future of digital and also Europe. I mean Europe and India hand in hand can build I think a kind of a third way of looking at the digital. One example I have much admiration for India is UPI, Unified Payment Interface, and we need that for example in Europe. So, it's a very fair and trustworthy collaboration. It's really nice to work with Indian people,” he added.

The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, will co-chair the AI Action Summit with French President Emmanuel Macron, engaging with global leaders and tech industry executives to explore AI-driven advancements for the public good.

Erwan de Kerautem further highlighted India's strengths in education, engineering, and diversity, which complement France's capabilities in AI and technology. He noted that India's vast population and varied needs present opportunities for AI applications in sectors like energy, education, health, and agriculture.

“I think again we are very complimentary because you have a great education, you have great engineers, you have a huge country and you have the diversity of languages and beliefs and population. So, you have extensive needs, public needs, private needs to address and you're a young country with a young population, old in history but young with your population. So, you have a lot to think about in terms of energy, education, health, agriculture, etc. And we have the same, I think we have the same challenges in India and in Europe with different population, but we, again, we, we are together in the core values to build, and digital is everywhere. So, what are the rules and what are the values we put in inclusivity, in addressing public and private needs,” he said.

The AI Action Summit, being held in France on February 10-11, will see participation from Heads of State and Government, leaders of international organizations, CEOs of small and large companies, representatives of academia, non-governmental organizations, artists, and members of civil society.