Axionable, a specialist in AI services and solutions for sustainable purposes, has announced that it has obtained the first ever “Artificial Intelligence” certification issued by the Laboratoire National de Métrologie et d’Essais (LNE). The aim of this certification is to ensure user confidence in AI systems that are ethically irreproachable and whose performance is known. This trust is essentially based on a rigorous evaluation of these systems and Axionable has successfully passed the various stages of the audit.

Founded in 2016, Axionable is a French sustainable AI services and solutions company with 50 employees based in Paris and Montreal, Canada. It aims to assist companies in creating sustainable value by using AI in a responsible way, with a positive and measurable impact for their business and society as a whole, particularly in the media, banking, insurance, energy, transport, construction, or real estate sectors.

The certification received by Axionable follows a detailed audit of all the processes implemented by the company, including its ADM (Axionable Delivery Method). The LNE verifies the way things are done, not the results obtained: the laboratory starts with the design of the application, studies its development, evaluates it and ends with the production launch. Gwendal Bihan, CEO and co-founder of Axionable underlines:

“Getting this first certification from a recognized institution is a great pride. It rewards the work of the entire team and demonstrates the high level of requirements we apply to our AI processes, in terms of performance, ethics, confidentiality, risk management and regulatory compliance. It provides opposable evidence in response to the demand for trust from our stakeholders and essential for the responsible development of AI.”

The Villani mission report proposed that the LNE’s responsibilities be extended and that it be recognized as “the competent authority for the evaluation of artificial intelligence.”

As recommended by this report, LNE has developed reference systems to structure, guarantee and certify intelligent systems and enable the development of standards and regulations, thus contributing to the confidence of companies and citizens in these new technologies. This new assessment platform has received funding from France Relance.

For a year, AI players have been collaborating with LNE to establish the framework for this certification, which will be launched in July 2021, including Orange, Schneider Electric, Thales, Michelin… as well as Axionable. Thomas Grenon, LNE’s Director General, states:

“Certification is a powerful tool for creating trust. It helps an emerging technology to become a safe technology that is recognized and accepted by all. We have therefore launched a certification process for the design of artificial intelligence algorithms. This certification system, which we designed in consultation with major groups, SMEs and SMIs, covers all AI systems, in order to promote confidence in them by providing guarantees delivered by a trusted third party. I had great pleasure in handing over, the first certificate to a young start-up that we are proud to count as our first certified.”

In Axionable’s case, the audit has enabled the company to gain efficiency, reduce risks and is a guarantee of trust for teams, customers and partners. It would also be a response to the AI regulator. Gwendal Bihan thus specified:

“We anticipate within the next two to three years the adoption of decrees in order to oblige players to integrate European requirements in terms of AI. In the same way that the RGDP was forged, it is essential to build an enforceable framework and operational responses to these requirements.”

Translated from Axionable obtient la première certification « Intelligence artificielle » du LNE suite à son audit