Entrepreneurs inspire Fellows to bring AI research to life
ETH Zurich alumni Kevin Sartori and Andreas Guggenbühl returned to the university as Entrepreneurs in Residence. At the ETH AI Center, they supported PhD students to found start-ups based on their artificial intelligence research.
At the ETH AI Center, PhD students and PostDoctoral Fellows are working on new technology and algorithms solutions. But translating these innovations into real-world applications is often a challenge. There are big and small questions like: What does the industry need? How do I found a company? How do I get funding and how do I hire people?
Mind the gap
To bridge the knowledge gap, Executive Director of the AI Center PD Alexander Ilic created the "Entrepreneurs in Residence" program. After all, who would be better suited to provide answers to these big and small questions than entrepreneurs themselves? That’s how former ETH students and start-up founders Kevin Sartori and Andreas Guggenbühl became the first entrepreneurs in residence at the competence center in late 2022.
Kevin and Andreas are both highly experienced start-up founders. After studying robotics and control Systems at ETH Zurich, Kevin worked at a drone start-up in Silicon Valley and co-founded Auterion, a company for open-source robotics. Auterion builds software for autonomous robots that can perform a broad spectrum of tasks from high-risk to mundane: deliver goods, for example, of aid in life-saving missions. Kevin immediately agreed to become an Entrepreneur in Residence: "Having learned so much from my own journey, I wanted to give back and immerse myself again at the source of AI research aiming to more closely align technological advancements with practical business outcomes", he says.
Andreas studied engineering and robotics at ETH Zurich and then founded Selfnation, a fashion-tech company that offers custom-made clothing. He also developed a voicebot for Astra, the Swiss Federal Roads Office, that answers standard customer service requests and can even understand Swiss German.
Innovation blocker: Fear
Every Tuesday for the last year, the pair came to the AI Center and provided mentorship to the PhD students. They answered questions, probed ideas, gave feedback and encouraged them to pursue bold ideas from research to practice. "Our role was to motivate PhD students to not fear pursuing their own ideas", said Andreas, and adds: "That’s actually the biggest blocker of innovation: fear. It seems easier to join an existing company instead of founding your own."
Since Kevin and Andreas were the first Entrepreneurs in Residence, they were free to shape the program as they saw fit. They organized a number of so-called "fireside chats" where they invited entrepreneurs from their network to share their experiences. "I think listening to stories from successful founders that came out of ETH inspires the most", said Kevin. But every entrepreneurial journey is different. "It's very hard to copy someone's success or follow a path that someone else has taken. It’s important to provide individual mentorship, to listen to their backgrounds, to find out what drives them to solve the problems they encounter", he added.
Andreas’ and Kevin’s experience as entrepreneurs helped them gauge whether a research idea was also a business idea. They saw some projects with big potential at the ETH AI Center. One group of PhD students, for example, is working on an augmented reality device to empower frontline workers to do a better and more reliable job. This could be used, for example, when an appliance repair company worker comes to your house because your heating system isn’t working. If the problem turns out to be more complicated and an expert is needed, instead of having to wait for an expert to come on another day, the frontline worker puts on an augmented reality device and the expert back at the repair company can see what the problem is and help right on the spot.
Another PhD student is developing an algorithm to control a robot hand to perform different sets of tasks. This could be used to scale custom manufacturing. Right now, it’s possible to automatically build 100 million identical smartphones. But this new technology could build 100 million smartphones that are different from one another. "This is a fundamental idea. Westill have a long way to go until you can actually make 100 million different devices, but this algorithm is a step into that direction", said Kevin.
However, not all ideas and innovations are suitable for a start-up. "The industry is interested in efficiency, cost-effectiveness, safety. Building AI models in a cheaper way is a big thing", said Andreas. "Sometimes the idea of a student could be turned into a company, sometimes it could support another company, and sometimes it makes more sense to continue researching”, he said.
A "visionary place"
And what do Andreas and Kevin take away from their residency? "The ETH AI Center is a visionary place", says Andreas. "People there think big and dream big. And the team around Alex Ilic has created an atmosphere that helps fellows pursue their dreams. It’s a very inspiring place to be in."
Kevin was surprised to see how far apart the needs of fundamental research on one hand and the industry on the other lie at times. "But I was also impressed to see how the PhD students and PostDoctoral fellows always had an eye for the real-life impact of their research", he said. "They would always ask themselves how their ideas can help shape a better society."
Kevin and Andres both agree: They would do the residency again. But for now, they are focusing on their own entrepreneurship. Andreas is working on a new company that makes cultural and art education easier for institutions. And Kevin is building a venture studio and joined forces with other entrepreneurs to createFounder's Copilot, an initiativewhich provides resources to help the next generation of founders scaletheir companies.
The entrepreneurs in residence program continues: Stefan Tuchschmid, who co-founded VirtaMed, joined us as an Entrepreneur in Residence in autumn 2023.