Optimia

About

Optimia is the fractional Chief AI Officer for French SMBs and mid-market firms. Based in La Rochelle and Paris, we help business leaders turn AI into a genuine operational lever without having to hire a full in-house team.

Our belief: AI only delivers real results in a structured environment. We structure your operations before picking the tools. Every project kicks off with an immersive audit: on-site interviews, mapping of your workflows, tools, and friction points. This leads to a prioritized 18 to 24-month roadmap that blends quick wins you can launch immediately with long-term foundational projects.

We work across three core pillars: Adoption: data and AI audits, team upskilling, and hands-on guidance on using AI assistants. Solutions: custom domain-specific AI agents, micro-services, and automated workflows, fully deployed and monitored, with human-in-the-loop checks wherever mistakes carry a high cost. Governance: compliance with GDPR, the AI Act, and DORA, along with internal AI usage policies, shadow AI audits, and contractual safeguards.

A few key figures: over 50 missions completed since April 2024, including 15 data and AI audits for SMBs and mid-market companies across France, Denmark, and Switzerland, spanning regulated finance, biotech, healthcare, energy, and real estate.

Optimia was founded by Julien Johann, who holds an MBA in Corporate Finance. He previously worked as a Data & Ops Consultant at Société Générale CIB in London, then as Head of Finance & Operations at Yseop, a French generative AI pioneer. Optimia is supported by Le Village by CA and the Technopole de La Rochelle.