Isabelle Andrieu
Isabelle Andrieu is an entrepreneur and serial investor in startups. In 1999 she co-founded Translated, one of the first internet based translation services with over 50,000 customers. Translated has created language technologies used by millions of users every month, such as MyMemory and MateCat. At Translated, Isabelle serves as COO and is specialized in localization operations.
She is the first citizen of Pi Campus, a startup district in Rome for early stage European technology ventures with 13 investments in portfolio. Isabelle takes care of the work environment's improvement and she is the reference person for startups who need to hire new talents.
So, I wonder: when you do what you do, whether it's your work, the foundation, or the school, isn't there also a desire in you to involve your children in some way? Because those people who can unlock their resources to create more impact in the world, that's my goal. Imagine that you make impact decisions only if you also bring your children, someone who can guarantee longevity. Often there are these foundations, these one-off donations, and so on, but then there is no continuity.
— Isabelle Andrieu
Interview transcript
Now, let's get to the point. What do you consider to be "impact" when it comes to making a difference through finance or other activities? How do you plan on achieving it? If you're just starting out on this journey, what steps do you plan to take?
Yeah, so for me, impact is like, an overall impact that you have as a founder, impacting on people's life from the people that work in our company, Translated, we treat the company, the customers we are in touch with? And how do you see your business overall 360? What is the impact that you are having on the world? For instance, Translated has a lot of parts of research, we have a research center within Translated and we do collect data, we analyze data, data is very expensive, in terms of the weighted cost to the environment. So two years ago, we decided we just sat on the table and said, Okay, what is it that we're doing? It has a cost on the environment. So how can we continue doing what we have to do because we need to do research in a more sustainable way. So we said, okay, it would be great to produce our own energy. So we decided to build a water mill. And it happened to be the watermill of Albert Einstein's father.
Where is this?
It's located in the North of Italy, but I don't remember the exact name of the place. This water mill produces the energy that we need at the campus. To give you some insight, the mother company provides translation services to many big clients, and we try to serve everyone. Some years ago, we decided to open a venture fund for startups that use artificial intelligence in various fields. We chose AI because Translated, the mother company, has been using it intensively for over 20 years to support humans in reading. We have this fund, and there's an ecosystem on the campus where people from Translated and startups have their offices in the same place. There are more than 300 people in Rome, and we produce some energy. With the water mill, we can produce clean energy and sell it to Enel, the main Italian provider, and then buy it back clean. To me, sustainability is everything.
Also, how you see the workplace and how you treat the people who work with you are important. The experience that you have with the people who decide to take part in their journeys is also crucial. As a company, I feel very responsible to share as much knowledge as possible if they decide to take part of their journey with us. If they decide to leave the company because we no longer have the same vision, it's okay. We're not married, but it has to be a win-win game. They need to grow with the company. So, I try to make sure that people are intellectually stimulated and grow in their careers. We have a lot of young people that we try to accompany as much as possible. We are at the beginning of the journey, meaning that we have started collecting data about the people in the company. There are a lot of women as well. But it's only the beginning when you talk about equity. When you start looking at your numbers, it's not only about equity in terms of the diversity that you have within the workspace. It's mainly about worldwide people. So, we need to attempt to create a more diverse ecosystem where we support not only young people, but also a range of ages. The company needs to be larger. Now, it starts at 22 years old, and we have people up to 66. What's the balance between these numbers? A person who is over 60 has so much knowledge to offer to a company. To us, it's only the beginning of starting to look at numbers and ethnicity. We're here in Italy, and we're mainly white. I need to attract talents from a diverse ecosystem to make sure that we have so much more to gain from a diverse ecosystem. So, it's a very large question, but if I can tell you, it has no question for me that the impact I wanted to give as a founder is important.
From day one, we asked ourselves questions about the responsibility we would have as founders. We wanted to make sure that we would do good things in the world because the spotlight would be on us. It's not that we do good things because the spotlight is on us, but rather because we want to do good. The company is an enabler for us to make sure that we have an impact on whatever we touch. It's important that everyone who interacts with the company has a good experience. This comes from offering an outstanding environment for the people who come to the office. It's based on past experiences of work that I've had in Italy where nothing was people-centric, and nobody cared about your well-being. Our campus offers an outstanding place to work. It's surrounded by greenery, it's in a green area, and it has been designed so that there is not too much noise. There are green spaces and large windows that let in light. We have the latest technology and TV screens, and Herman Miller chairs that cost 1000 euros each for everyone. We offer massages, with everyone getting a 20-minute session at least once a week. We offer healthy food in the kitchen for free and make sure that people gather together to cook and have lunch together. This creates a sense of community. Over the years, we've made many choices, such as eliminating plastic. We don't have plastic bottles for water, but instead have water dispensers and cans made from recycled materials from a small company in Spain. We offer sustainable bags as gifts for new employees. We care about the well-being of our people, and it's not just about making sure that they are in a green space. They need to have their brains stimulated enough to learn something new every day. That's why we host very cool people at our campus to talk about their own experiences. We also have sports activities, so that during lunchtime, people can decide to have a sports break instead of a lunch break. We have a lot of women, and I personally practice a sport three times a week at lunchtime because I have three kids. It's designed to meet my personal needs, but of course, it also reflects the needs of mothers. We offer diversity in terms of the sports activities that we're offering, and there are many examples.
Fantastic! It's great that you go beyond the traditional way of thinking about impact, which often focuses on sustainability and the environment as big, abstract concepts with massive scale and sample sizes. Instead, you emphasize the importance of everyday steps and actions that your company promotes. It seems like you've always been this way, like it's just part of who you are.
And now it's very trendy to have your own Diversity Equity report and impact report. To us, it was important also to understand where we are now and the goals that we want to have. So trying to understand where our x is? And x plus one, what should it be to give us some good goals to reach? So, yeah.
Yes. When you mentioned the startups you have, I wasn't sure about the specifics of your structure. You mentioned having a venture fund that invests in startups focused on AI. Do you have any involvement in these investments? AI can be used in various ways, such as creating software or code that can have different levels of impact. So, it's possible that you don't have control over everything. However, do you bring the attitude you described earlier into supporting young people? And how do you connect that with impact? What is important to you?
Absolutely. So there are two things. With Pay Campus, we try to identify trends and anticipate the impact of AI, which we know will be huge. We also prioritize startups that have a positive impact. Additionally, Pay Campus, which I founded and am CEO of, focuses on AI education for high school students. Our goals are twofold: to provide companies with hands-on AI testing and to educate top engineers with the latest AI research. By combining these goals, we deliver a hands-on project in just eight weeks, providing companies with a valuable AI proof of concept in a short amount of time. Our engineers are also thrilled to become AI experts. When we choose a project to support, we prioritize those that have a positive impact on the world. Recently, we've supported pro bono projects related to sustainability and the environment, such as detecting fires and their impact on the environment, in partnership with Athene University and the United Nations. We strive to make a positive impact in all aspects of our work.
There is one thing: everyone makes investments, everyone, as you say, whatever it may be. When I came to you, you took the time, made the coffee - everything is an investment. In my opinion, the time you spend with people is an investment. Now, I see great potential in connecting people of different generations, in creating mechanisms, be they foundations or other vehicles, other dynamics, especially now with blockchain, right? So distributed, internet, and so on. In my opinion, there is a way to connect people of different generations. So, I wonder: when you do what you do, whether it's your work, the foundation, or the school, isn't there also a desire in you to involve your children in some way? Because those people who can unlock their resources to create more impact in the world, that's my goal. Imagine that you make impact decisions only if you also bring your children, someone who can guarantee longevity. Often there are these foundations, these one-off donations, and so on, but then there is no continuity.
One thing that may be shocking is that I see the people with me as my children. I now have a 13-year-old, Paul, Juliette is 11, and little Leo is 4 and a half. Paul is starting to take a little interest in what we're doing, but not much; he's still young. I feel a sense of responsibility towards these people and a legacy to leave behind. As a founder, I approach them as a good father. When you have decisions to make, what impact will these decisions have on the people you talk to, right? You try to create wealth around the ecosystem, all these families that are responsible in some way, families that you have created. You have created and are creating wealth for them, so we leave wealth in the area. When we opened Pi Campus, we did it because there were no startups in the ecosystem. So we wanted to make an important impression and start investing in youth. These kids didn't know where to go, there were no places, incubators. So we started it with this outlook, to leave an imprint on the territory. So yes, I do things so that one day I don't have regrets, okay? What legacy have I left? What impact have I had? In general, in everyday life. I repeat, you make decisions to guide a little, you have the responsibility. Then it's not certain that everyone will embrace what you want to do, but whoever wants to... I don't know if my children will take the reins, I want them to be happy. This is what fuels me for the moment, more than the language, for the impact. I don't know if I made it clear…
But of course! I'm getting a little emotional, you know, I've always had...
No, no, this just came out now, but is it a break? for me right now, to have elaborated this.
How do we make more people in the world feel this responsibility also towards their children and consequently with their capital, create mechanisms... What can be done according to you?
[Pause]. Mmh, I don't know what can be done.
You don't have to answer me now. Maybe something will come to mind and you'll tell me. In my opinion, if a vehicle is created, my goal is that after this research, we will be able to do recreational exploration and say: "Thanks to digital technologies, smart contracts, blockchain, artificial intelligence, and so on, there will be ways to do things, even difficult things and manage risks autonomously, maybe a little by these decentralized systems." This will result in less fear for people who have fewer economic opportunities. In the end, it's fear that blocks progress and creates risk. By unlocking these resources, we can create more impact. Because in my opinion, there are no people who wake up in the morning saying, "I don't want to create an impact." I can't explain it.
No, no, but we're talking about... this is a topic about people's values. What do you believe in? What are your drivers? What are the things you believe in that dictate what you do in life? I don't know how easy it is to become an enabler, because I don't know if it's part of these people's values. Money, I mean, I've always seen money as something you need to be happy, but for me, it's just an exchange of something, right? Maybe it's not the same for everyone, so how do we make people wake up and want to create an impact?
In my opinion there is a lot to do in education.
Yes, there is a lot to do, but at some point, we will always ask ourselves more and more how we feel and who we are because technology will do a lot of things for us, right? As you said before, now that GPT is here, we're all in turmoil right now for the opportunities that can be created, and so the laziness that we are made of, because the truth is this, we have to get out of our comfort zone. It's difficult for us humans, in general. Laziness will take over a bit of things because the machine will do a lot of things for us. In my opinion, we will ask ourselves more and more existential questions, and so starting from values will be important. There will be more and more people who will do this work of delving into who they are, and maybe... I don't know, I just threw it out there, ahahah.
Of course, understanding the psychology behind it is important. However, I don't want to take up any more of your time, Isabelle. Let's stop here.