AI Pulse Paris: An AI Conference Experience as a Solo Founder & Web Developer

I went to an AI conference in Paris expecting to feel out of my depth and even further behind. I came away feeling the opposite.

This week, I was lucky enough to attend AI-Pulse by Scaleway at STATION F in Paris, hoping to learn more about a technology that has genuinely reignited my passion for tech and software development.

I find AI fascinating and exciting. I also find it terrifying when I think about the ethics, environmental impact and where it’s all heading. But that’s a conversation for another post!

Using AI as a solo developer and app founder

Building Mimique has given me a renewed enthusiasm for software development. AI has opened up possibilities that would have been much harder for me to explore alone.

But despite using it daily, I constantly feel behind.

There’s always a new tool, a new model or another technique we’re supposedly all meant to be using. Am I making the right technical decisions? Am I using the technology properly? Should I be doing things differently?

When you’re building something on your own, there’s nobody sitting next to you to bounce ideas off, challenge your thinking or reassure you that you’re on the right track.

What I took away from AI Pulse

I went to the conference expecting to have my mind blown, or to leave feeling overwhelmed with a long list of things I should already have been doing.

Instead, I came away with something I hadn’t expected: confidence in what I’m already doing.

The conference reinforced my belief in the approach I’m taking with Mimique. It reminded me that I don’t need to chase every new development or adopt every new tool to build something useful.

I need to understand the technology, make considered decisions and keep improving the product for the people using it.

Of course, AI is moving incredibly quickly, and there’s still plenty I want to learn. I also missed a few speakers I was hoping to see, so I’m sure there was more I could have taken away.

But I left feeling more excited about what I’m building than anxious about what I might be missing. For a solo founder, that shift in perspective is valuable in itself.

The irony of building a French pronunciation app

There was one thing I was disappointed about: I didn’t manage to connect with other founders.

I’d have loved to meet someone at a similar stage, or even better, someone further along who could share their experience and offer advice on what to do next.

The irony is that I’m building an app to help people speak French with confidence, yet I struggled to speak to anyone at the conference!

I’d even used Mimique the day before to practise phrases I might need. Clearly, knowing what to say and having the confidence to actually say it are two very different things.

It’s a good reminder that understanding something intellectually doesn’t automatically make it easy in practice. And perhaps it’s another reason I’m so invested in what I’m building.

Building with AI when you’re working alone

One of the challenges of being a solo developer and founder is figuring out where to focus your time and energy.

AI creates enormous opportunities, but it also creates pressure to keep up with an endless stream of new developments. It’s easy to spend more time worrying about what you might be missing than making progress on the thing you’re actually building.

AI Pulse reminded me why I started this journey in the first place: the excitement of learning, experimenting and turning ideas into something real.

I don’t have all the answers, and I’m certainly not an expert in everything AI has to offer. But I’m building, learning and making progress. For now, that’s enough.

Thanks to Scaleway for the opportunity to attend AI Pulse and discover STATION F, a place I’m keen to explore further.