I’m Julien Simon.
30+ years in tech. I’ve built and scaled web platforms at several large-scale startups. I’ve traveled the world and evangelized Machine Learning and AI at AWS, Hugging Face, and Arcee AI. Today, I’m an AI Operating Partner at Fortino Capital, a European PE firm, where I help software companies cut through the noise and ship AI that actually works. Learn more at julien.org and fortino.group.
What I write about
Long-form analysis of AI, technology, and the systems that shape them, through the lens of someone who’s spent decades building things, not commenting on them from the sidelines.
I write about why countries with world-class engineering can’t build frontier AI — and what that tells you about talent systems, capital allocation, and structural failure. I write about what “digital sovereignty” actually means under the law, not what European politicians put on a slide. I write about the financial architecture of AI infrastructure bets — what the balance sheets show that the earnings calls don’t.
Every piece is built on primary sources: SEC filings, government statistical surveys, legislative text, and regulatory deliberations. Tens of detailed footnotes per piece, because my readers expect this level of precision.
I have opinions. They’re informed by engineering and financial analysis, not ideology. You’ll agree with some of them. You won’t agree with others. Either way, you’ll get the reasoning, the evidence, and a structural framework you can apply to your own decisions.
What to expect
National AI ecosystem analysis: Why specific countries — despite significant investment, talent, or infrastructure — fail to produce frontier AI. Structural diagnosis, not scorekeeping.
Cloud and AI sovereignty: Whether “sovereign” offerings actually deliver sovereignty under the applicable legal frameworks. The law, not the marketing.
AI infrastructure and finance: Capex sustainability, balance sheet risk, and the accounting dynamics the market narrative misses.
The occasional takedown of whatever the clowns at the EU Commission decided to inflict on the tech industry this week.
Who reads this
Investors, CTOs, and IT professionals who need analytical frameworks they can use—not another hot take. If you allocate capital, choose vendors, or set technology strategy, this Substack is built for you.
