Show Notes
The discipline of translating, is the compute. Before Carole Egerton built one of Europe's largest online retailers, she wrote her dissertation on the development of the internet in France. She understood what was coming through the lens of language and communication rather than engineering, and has been building with this in mind ever since.
In this episode of The Unseen, Claire Belhassine speaks with Carole Egerton about what it means to build technology that translates, what pre-linguistic intelligence has to do with AI, and why after twenty-five years of building things that did not yet exist, she remains optimistic about what comes next.
IN THIS EPISODE
Why a French degree from Cardiff University, and a dissertation on the development of the internet in France, became the foundation for twenty-five years of technology entrepreneurship. How reading Gide and Molière helps a tech CEO, and what francophone culture has to do with building the future. How Carole helped build one of the first online shopping experiences in the UK What it took to scale Glasses Direct to a major exit and what she learned about vision, literally and otherwise, along the way. How partnering with a NASA optical physicist led to Clear Rx, the world's first standalone virtual eye test, and what it reveals about which systems are long overdue for reimagining. What Solm Systems is building at the signal layer beneath language The pre-linguistic knowing that comes from raising humans who cannot yet communicate their needs in words, and what that intelligence has to do with building AI at this particular moment. What twenty-five years in mostly male teams taught Carole about authenticity, and why she stopped translating herself to fit the room. How you know if a system is going in the right direction Why Carole is optimistic, and what it would mean to hand the next generation something worth having.
ABOUT CAROLE EGERTON Carole Egerton is a visionary entrepreneur and product leader with over twenty-five years of experience building things that did not yet exist. She co-founded Glasses Direct, scaling it from a startup to a major exit as Europe's largest online eyewear retailer. She co-founded Clear Eye Test, partnering with a NASA optical physicist to build the world's first standalone clinically accurate virtual eye test. She is now CEO and founder of Solm Systems, a UK deep-tech company building foundation model architecture for the signal layer beneath language. She began with a French degree from Cardiff University and a dissertation on the development of the internet in France.
FURTHER READING AND LINKS Solm Systems: solmsystems.com The next frontier is not machines. It is humanity: solmsystems.com/perspective/the-next-frontier Clear Eye Test: cleareyetest.com Carole Egerton on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/caroleegerton
ABOUT THE UNSEEN The Unseen is a podcast from Godmothers Studio exploring the women whose ideas, work and imagination shape technology, culture and the world we are building. Every Godmother starts by seeing something the rest of the world cannot yet see.
This episode was produced by Godmothers Studio and Gianluca Allaria. Presented by Claire Belhassine. Music by Tara Lily. Sound by Kit Proudfoot.
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