Premium Beauty News – What inspired you to take on the role of in-house Master Perfumer at Osmo?
Christophe Laudamiel – Joining Osmo was a breath of fresh air. We are searching relentlessly for truly open and cutting edge scientific foundations, tech and creation, and finding them!!
Osmo is an AI-driven, software-driven and art-driven perfumery practice. The opportunity to blend artistic visions with landmark technology is a blessing. It makes a huge difference to have as CEO a leading PhD scientist, Dr Alex Wiltchko. Also a CEO who has been breathing fragrances and fragrance passion since teenage years. The passion and futuristic visions, olfactions I shall say, are shared all the way, organically, viscerally at Osmo internally and with our clients. Furthermore, Osmo R&D is not into anti-aging creams or fashion styling (visual and touch expertise), pet food nor fake burger fibers: all, to me, very weird diversifications of the industry of the past 10 years. We are into olfaction and dedicate 100% of our energy towards olfaction.
Second, I believe that hosting an in-house perfumer is the obvious thing to do if one is serious about perfumery. It is obvious in fashion, architecture and fine-dining to host a master in house. It has been obvious for Osmo from the start and a blessing for me to be invited.
Premium Beauty News – Can you explain how AI is integrated into your creative process and the development of new molecules?
Christophe Laudamiel – At Osmo, we use AI for what humans cannot do or cannot do well. The technology screens billions of molecules to identify unique olfactory safety or environmental properties. It would take a perfumer, smelling each molecule for only 5 min, 66,000 years to go over them all. Even the AI screening is not done in one day. We have not even combed 1 billion of them yet.
Also, we are using AI to suggest perfumers or robots other ways to create similar smells to optimize an existing formula, or to create the future printer of smells. This has applications internally as well as for many more companies or perfumers of all walks of life. It is well-known that formulas still carry some fat as it is hard for humans to try all possibilities: talking here 100’s if not 1000’s extra trials that it would require to theoretically optimize each formula, before it gets in line for manufacturing.
Premium Beauty News – Some professionals in the fragrance industry have expressed skepticism about Osmo’s rapid pace and the safety of its molecules. How do you ensure your innovations meet the highest standards?
Christophe Laudamiel – Some of those skeptics are probably the reasons why the industry has been going at a mammoth pace for the past 40, or even 400 years.
Osmo is member of the Research Institute for Fragrance Materials (RIFM) and has investors from the pharmaceutical industry. We are well aware of FDA and REACH requirements for instance, even with higher standards than those needed for perfumery. Speed is coming from high intensity AI screening and speed is coming from fruitful unfiltered collaboration between chemists, toxicologists, perfumers, and from …. fragrance testing of molecules. The perfumery lab touches the chemistry lab, only one-glass window in-between. No car ride, no plane ride, no management meeting in between. Does that exist anywhere else in the world? At Osmo we believe in serious safety, in serious chemistry, and in serious noses to make decisions within minutes, and to excite the public within months.
Last but not least, we, like many reasonable clients nowadays, embrace the fact that molecules are introduced region by regions. The world is still so not scientific, even in regards to safety. That’s why we shall happily safely cater to one region, even if another region creates some unscientific barriers to perfumers and the consumers.
Premium Beauty News – What do you see as the future of perfumery? Will AI completely change the way fragrances are created and experienced?
Christophe Laudamiel – AI will certainly change the way we create. Excellent perfumers, like excellent architects, shall remain in high demand. At the same time, AI may check that new fragrances are not copies or remixes. AI can optimize formulas at least for objective criteria such as molecule replacement, cost, number of pours, number of premixed bases. On the latter for instance, we have found a melony molecule so juicy you would drink it (I’m biased): it replaces by itself 5-6 molecules that it would take to recreate that nice juicy sunny Cantaloupe Charentais melon. Be our guest !
