Europe on Edge
- Folgen
- 15
- Erscheint
- wöchentlich
- Letzte Folge
- 11. Nov. 2026
Über den Podcast
Created by ETH researchers, Europe on Edge is a long-form podcast about Europe’s future in AI, science, and innovation. It features deep conversations with top researchers, founders, and investors on what Europe must do to stay globally competitive.
Folgen 15
#14 — Noah Hollmann, Prior Labs: From Medical School to SAP, Foundation Models for Tables, and Why Europe Can Compete
Looking for a European AI success story? Here’s one. Noah Hollmann left medical school one year before becoming a doctor to co-found Prior Labs, which builds foundation models for tabular data. SAP recently …
Shownotes
Looking for a European AI success story? Here’s one. Noah Hollmann left medical school one year before becoming a doctor to co-found Prior Labs, which builds foundation models for tabular data. SAP recently acquired Prior Labs and committed more than €1 billion to turn it into a frontier AI lab in Europe. We discuss why deep learning struggled with tables, how training on synthetic data made TabPFN work, and why building in the open turned the research community into their test bench. We also explore what comes after prediction (causality), why there’s no magic in Silicon Valley that Europe can’t match, and how regulatory uncertainty hurts European startups. His advice: most decisions are reversible, so take the leap.
Thank you for listening!
GUEST
Prior Labs: https://priorlabs.ai/
TabPFN on GitHub: https://github.com/PriorLabs/TabPFN
Noah Hollmann on X: https://x.com/noahhollSPONSORS
ETH Juniors: https://ethjuniors.ch/
ETH Student Project House: https://sph.ethz.ch/PODCAST LINKS
Europe on Edge: https://www.europeonedge.com/
Europe on Edge on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/europeonedge/SOCIAL
X: https://x.com/fbar3000
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/filipe-barata/CHAPTERS
00:00 Moore's Law Surprise
01:05 Podcast Intro Noah
02:06 Medical Data Frustration
03:49 Transformer Breakthrough
06:36 Twitter Buzz Doubts
08:44 From Paper to Startup
12:18 Founder Confidence Journey
14:09 Why Tabular Is Hard
21:17 Synthetic Data Strategy
27:09 Priors and Naming
30:37 Early Real World Uses
33:18 Open Weights Approach
36:53 Community Accelerates Research
39:31 Benchmark Feedback Loop
40:16 Why SAP Bought Prior Labs
42:10 SAP Use Cases Preview
44:11 Staying Open After Acquisition
47:26 Next Wave Tabular Models
49:40 From Prediction To Causality
54:21 Foundation Systems Future
58:06 Life Beyond ML Work
01:00:15 AI Safety And Trust
01:05:39 Europe Startup Playbook
01:13:27 Sponsor Break ETH Juniors
01:14:15 Advice For New Founders
01:17:01 Doctor Workflow Vision
01:19:45 Final Thoughts And Call#13 — Thomas Dohmke, Entire: From GitHub CEO to Founder, AI Agents and the Future of Coding, and Why European Startups Become American
AI agents now let anyone with an idea build software. Thomas Dohmke, former CEO of GitHub and founder of Entire, explains why he left GitHub to build for a world where humans and agents create software …
Shownotes
AI agents now let anyone with an idea build software. Thomas Dohmke, former CEO of GitHub and founder of Entire, explains why he left GitHub to build for a world where humans and agents create software together. We discuss why you still need to understand code, why “the code is the what, the log is the why,” and where a developer’s pride goes when AI does the hard work. We also explore why so many European startups become American companies, what Europe must fix, and when Europe will have a frontier AI lab. His verdict: we are all builders now.
Thank you for listening!
GUEST
Entire: entire.io
Thomas Dohmke on X: @ashtomSPONSORS
ETH Juniors: ethjuniors.ch
ETH Student Project House: sph.ethz.chPODCAST LINKS
Europe on Edge: europeonedge.com
Europe on Edge on LinkedIn: Europe on EdgeSOCIAL
X: @fbar3000
LinkedIn: Filipe Barata#12 — Estelle Clerc, CellX Biosolutions: Bacteria That Eat Forever Chemicals, From PhD to Startup, and Why Regulation Drives Cleantech
PFAS, the so-called forever chemicals, are everywhere: in our pans, our cosmetics, our water, and our soil. Estelle Clerc, Co-Founder and CEO of CellX Biosolutions, explains how her team finds natural bacteria …
Shownotes
PFAS, the so-called forever chemicals, are everywhere: in our pans, our cosmetics, our water, and our soil. Estelle Clerc, Co-Founder and CEO of CellX Biosolutions, explains how her team finds natural bacteria that can break them down, going against the conventional wisdom that PFAS is not biodegradable. We discuss her “microfluidic fishing rod” for catching the right bacteria, why natural bacterial teams beat genetic engineering, scaling from lab pilots to treating industrial wastewater and polluted soil, and whether bacteria are safe to release. We also explore turning an ETH PhD into a startup, Zurich’s growing innovation hub, and why she believes Europe’s strict pollution rules are an enabler: you cannot produce if you cannot clean.
Thank you for listening!
GUEST
CellX Biosolutions: cellx.ch
SPONSORS
ETH Juniors: ethjuniors.ch
ETH Student Project House: sph.ethz.chPODCAST LINKS
Europe on Edge: europeonedge.com
Europe on Edge on LinkedIn: Europe on EdgeSOCIAL
X: @fbar3000
LinkedIn: Filipe Barata#11 — Francesco Pappone, Paradigma: Automating Science, AI Scientists, and the SPRIND Frontier AI Challenge
Can AI make the next great scientific discovery? Francesco Pappone, Co-Founder and CEO of Paradigma, explains his mission to automate scientific research—from building AI “mad scientists” to creating factories …
Shownotes
Can AI make the next great scientific discovery? Francesco Pappone, Co-Founder and CEO of Paradigma, explains his mission to automate scientific research—from building AI “mad scientists” to creating factories for discovery. We discuss why today’s models lack research intuition, how Flywheel helps humans and agents collaborate, and his prediction that the Riemann hypothesis won’t be solved by a human. We also explore founding an ambitious startup in Rome, the SPRIND Frontier AI Challenge, and why he believes culture is Europe’s biggest AI bottleneck.
Thank you for listening!
GUEST
Paradigma: paradigma.inc
Try Flywheel: flywheel.paradigma.inc
Contact Paradigma: [email protected]SPONSORS
ETH Juniors: ethjuniors.ch
ETH Student Project House: sph.ethz.chPODCAST LINKS
Europe on Edge: europeonedge.com
Europe on Edge on LinkedIn: Europe on EdgeSOCIAL
X: @fbar3000
LinkedIn: Filipe Barata#10 — Max Welling: AI’s Energy Wall, Physics as the Next Breakthrough, and Discovering New Materials with CuspAI
Is AI approaching a compute and energy wall? Max Welling, Professor at the University of Amsterdam and Co-Founder and CTO of CuspAI, explains why physics could help unlock more efficient intelligence. We …
Shownotes
Is AI approaching a compute and energy wall? Max Welling, Professor at the University of Amsterdam and Co-Founder and CTO of CuspAI, explains why physics could help unlock more efficient intelligence. We discuss discovering new materials with AI, turning predictions into real-world applications, and why Europe needs to make more room for bold research and entrepreneurship.
Thank you for listening!
GUEST
Max Welling on LinkedIn: Max Welling
CuspAI: cusp.aiSPONSORS
ETH Juniors: ethjuniors.ch
ETH Student Project House: sph.ethz.chPODCAST LINKS
Europe on Edge: europeonedge.com
Europe on Edge on LinkedIn: Europe on EdgeSOCIAL
X: @fbar3000
LinkedIn: Filipe Barata#9 — Marcel Salathé: "We're Being Stupid", Why Europe Can't Sit Out AI, Cutting Education Budgets, Open Models as Public Infrastructure, and Europe's Fear of Risk
Marcel Salathé, Professor at EPFL and Co-Director of the EPFL AI Center, argues that AI is our generation's steam engine and that ignoring it is becoming career sabotage. We discuss Europe's fear narrative …
Shownotes
Marcel Salathé, Professor at EPFL and Co-Director of the EPFL AI Center, argues that AI is our generation's steam engine and that ignoring it is becoming career sabotage. We discuss Europe's fear narrative around AI, why models must be aligned with our values from day zero, the case for open AI models as public infrastructure, and what Europe needs to become a continent of risk-takers again.
Thank you for listening!
GUEST
Marcel Salathé on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/salathe/
The Framework App: https://www.theframeworkapp.comSPONSORS
ETH Juniors: https://ethjuniors.ch/
ETH Student Project House: https://sph.ethz.ch/PODCAST LINKS
Europe on Edge: https://www.europeonedge.com/
Europe on Edge on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/europeonedge/SOCIAL
X: https://x.com/fbar3000
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/filipe-barata/#8 — Michael Siegenthaler: AI and Jobs, What the Data Says, Who Wins and Who Loses, the Future of Work in Europe
Michael Siegenthaler, Professor at ETH Zurich and Head of Swiss Labour Market Research at KOF, explores what the data says about AI and jobs, who risks being left behind, and how Europe can adapt to a changing …
Shownotes
Michael Siegenthaler, Professor at ETH Zurich and Head of Swiss Labour Market Research at KOF, explores what the data says about AI and jobs, who risks being left behind, and how Europe can adapt to a changing labour market.
Thank you for listening!
SPONSORS
ETH Juniors: https://ethjuniors.ch/
ETH Student Project House: https://sph.ethz.ch/PODCAST LINKS
Europe on Edge: https://www.europeonedge.com/
Europe on Edge on LinkedIn: /europeonedgeSOCIAL
X: https://x.com/fbar3000
LinkedIn: /filipe-barata#7 — Edouard Treccani: Venture Capital, What Makes Great Founders, AI, Europe vs. Silicon Valley, the Future of European Tech
Edouard Tricani, Partner at Founderful, explains what VCs look for in great founders, how AI is reshaping startups, and why Europe can build globally important technology companies.Thank you for …
Shownotes
Edouard Tricani, Partner at Founderful, explains what VCs look for in great founders, how AI is reshaping startups, and why Europe can build globally important technology companies.
Thank you for listening!
SPONSORSETH Juniors: https://ethjuniors.ch/
PODCAST LINKS
ETH Student Project House: https://sph.ethz.ch/Europe on Edge: https://www.europeonedge.com/
SOCIAL
Europe on Edge on LinkedIn: LinkedInX: https://x.com/fbar3000
LinkedIn: Filipe Barata#6 — Pascal Bertrand & Atoof Shakir: From Students to Startup Founders at Seldon Technologies on AI, Raising Capital, and Building Before Graduation
How do you build an AI startup while still at university? ETH Zurich students Pascal Bertrand and Atoof Shakir, cofounders of Seldon Technologies, discuss finding a cofounder, raising angel funding without a …
Shownotes
How do you build an AI startup while still at university? ETH Zurich students Pascal Bertrand and Atoof Shakir, cofounders of Seldon Technologies, discuss finding a cofounder, raising angel funding without a pitch deck, and teaching AI to understand video and audio.
Thank you for listening!
SPONSORS
ETH Juniors
ETH Student Project HousePODCAST LINKS
Europe on Edge
Europe on Edge on LinkedIn#5 — Jürgen Schmidhuber: The GOAT of AI on Deep Learning, Robotics, the AI Bubble, AGI, and What Comes Next
Jürgen Schmidhuber, one of the pioneers of modern AI, explains what today’s AI systems are still missing, why AGI may require machines to master the physical world, and why he believes current spending on GPUs …
Shownotes
Jürgen Schmidhuber, one of the pioneers of modern AI, explains what today’s AI systems are still missing, why AGI may require machines to master the physical world, and why he believes current spending on GPUs could be part of a temporary AI bubble. We also discuss the origins of deep learning, self-improving AI, robotics, and the future of artificial intelligence.
Thank you for listening!
SPONSORSETH Juniors
PODCAST LINKSSOCIAL
ETH Student Project House#4 — Magnus Müller: AI Agents, Browser Automation, Y Combinator, Europe vs. Silicon Valley, the Future of the Web
Magnus Müller, co-founder of BrowserUse, explains how AI agents are learning to control the web and how BrowserUse is building the infrastructure that enables them to interact with websites. Previously, Magnus …
Shownotes
Magnus Müller, co-founder of BrowserUse, explains how AI agents are learning to control the web and how BrowserUse is building the infrastructure that enables them to interact with websites. Previously, Magnus studied at ETH Zurich, where BrowserUse began as a weekend project before taking him to Y Combinator and San Francisco.
Thank you for listening!
Sponsors- ETH Juniors: https://ethjuniors.ch/
- ETH Student Project House: https://sph.ethz.ch/
#3 — Max Buckley: AI Search, Coding Agents, Europe’s AI Competitiveness, Frontier Models, the Future of Software
Max Buckley is the Head of Knowledge Research at Exa, an AI search company building web search and retrieval infrastructure for AI agents. Previously, he spent over a decade at Google, working across software …
Shownotes
Max Buckley is the Head of Knowledge Research at Exa, an AI search company building web search and retrieval infrastructure for AI agents. Previously, he spent over a decade at Google, working across software engineering, machine learning, and AI.
Thank you for listening!
Max Buckley LinksSponsorsPodcast LinksSocial#2—Maximilian Niroomand: Europe’s AI Compute Race, GPU Scarcity, Inference, Open Source Models, Building Lyceum
Maximilian Niroomand is the Co-Founder and CTO of Lyceum, a European AI infrastructure startup building the compute layer behind modern AI.Thank you for listening!Sponsors ETH Juniors Student Project House …
Shownotes
Maximilian Niroomand is the Co-Founder and CTO of Lyceum, a European AI infrastructure startup building the compute layer behind modern AI.
Thank you for listening!
SponsorsPodcast LinksSocial#1—Philippe Aghion: Creative Destruction, AI Revolution, Europe vs. US & China, Schumpeter, Open Source, Jobs of the Future
Philippe Aghion is a Nobel Prize-winning French economist and one of the world’s foremost experts on innovation, economic growth and creative destruction.Thank you for listening!Sponsors ETH Juniors Student …
Shownotes
Philippe Aghion is a Nobel Prize-winning French economist and one of the world’s foremost experts on innovation, economic growth and creative destruction.
Thank you for listening!
SponsorsPodcast LinksSocial
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