Technology executive who turns frontier research into products that ship — today in Physical AI and robotics.
Twenty-five years of firsts: the first megapixel USB webcam, the first solid-state
camcorder, the first Android TV hardware, the first integrated drone platform, the first
fully disposable medical endoscope, the first ad-skipping car audio. Built at Logitech, Qualcomm,
Samsung, Forvia, iRobot and AWS — and in three startups of my own.
Physical AI go-to-market with lighthouse customers: three proofs-of-concept, a $40M opportunity pipeline
in industrial inspection and warehouse automation, and COOL — the Cloud-Optimized OpenCV
Library — launched with OpenCV alongside a worldwide programming competition that drew more
than 1,000 participants.
iRobot — Chief Architect 2022–2024
Defined the next-generation Roomba and lawnmower platform — 25+ sensors, an NPU, multiple
processors — and cut the bill of materials 30% through computer vision and platform reuse.
Five product lines and a team of 50 across Europe, China, the US and Japan; 12 platforms
in one year on a $65M budget; the due-diligence and integration committee for the $1.7B
Clarion acquisition; board seats at Aptoide, Irystec and CREO.
Parrot Automotive — Head of R&D 2017–2018
700 engineers and contractors, through the Faurecia acquisition. Two patents filed; an assertive licensing
program started.
Samsung Strategic & Innovation Center — WW Director of Product Management, Autonomous Driving 2016–2017
Product and roadmap for the DRVLINE self-driving platform; venture due diligence on three
investments totalling more than $100M.
Qualcomm Corporate R&D — Director, Product Management & Business Development 2013–2016
Robotics initiative with direct sponsoring from the CTO: delivered the first integrated drone
reference platform and secured lighthouse customers.
NAGRA / Kudelski Group — VP Technology, Standards & IP 2010–2012
Technology strategy and intellectual property for a leader in digital content distribution.
Logitech — Technology Managing Director 2001–2011
A decade of video calling and computer peripherals — the era of the first megapixel webcam.
Founder or co-founder, three times2009–today
Intentionis (IoT; semi-finalist, UC Berkeley Haas business plan competition), Reedcam Medical
(a fully disposable medical endoscope), and Annoying-Is-Caring
— AI humor, live today at myjokes.ai.
Ph.D. in signal processing (French thesis →)
and M.S. in Robotics, Sorbonne University ·
IEEE Senior Member · 20+ patents, a dozen publications · Scientific Board, Renault Group (2024) ·
Trade Advisor to the French Government (CCEF) · iF Design Award 2019
“Frantz is an engineer-philosopher — a builder and a thinker grappling with the enormous
complexities we have created for ourselves.”
— Emeritus Professor Edward Lee
Newsletter & Posts
Fifty-plus issues on where technology is going
A LinkedIn newsletter since late 2023 — 50+ issues on the shifts that matter,
from Physical AI and robotics to mobility, energy and innovation leadership — plus the posts
in between.
AI · MLRobotics & DronesAutomotive / MobilityCloudQuantum ComputingBlockchain & NFTMultimediaMedTechMaterial ScienceLocalizationEnergySoftwareInnovation Leadership · IP · Quality
