Sylvain Peyronnet

I live by and for the algorithms

Co-founder & CEO @ Babbar Co-founder @ ix-labs Chief Architect @ IBOU Former Full Professor
Sylvain Peyronnet

For 20+ years I've built algorithms to support decision-making at web scale.

Although I have been in the private sector since 2014, I still consider myself primarily an algorithmician. I view computer science as an experimental discipline, where theory is a helpful tool but not an end by itself.

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01

About

Interests

  • Machine Learning
  • Approximation Algorithms
  • Probabilistic Methods
  • Decision Quality vs Information Loss
  • Business Strategy
  • Digital Sociology
  • Applied Philosophy

Recognition

  • SEMY Award 2016
  • Search Personality of the Year
  • SMX Paris

I'm a former Full Professor and long-time search specialist, now co-founder and CEO of Babbar (yourtext.guru, babbar.tech) and Chief Architect of IBOU, Babbar's agentic search engine project.

My favorite topics include machine learning, approximation algorithms (usually probabilistic), and the fascinating question of the quality of decision-making with respect to information loss.

Beyond that, my interests include business and investment strategies, sociology of the algorithmic world, applied philosophy, and technical engineering—because the mind guides the hand, and the hand shapes the mind.

In 2016, I received the SEMY Award for Search Personality of the Year at SMX Paris. After leaving academia in 2014, I've dedicated my work to bridging the gap between theoretical research and real-world applications.

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Blog

Jul 2025

🇫🇷 Babbar : la suite arrive

Announcing IBOU—our agentic search engine project focused on information quality and fair treatment of web publishers.

→ Feb 2023

🇬🇧 From 2022 to 2023, heading towards another extraordinary year?

Reflections on team growth, resilience, and navigating uncertainty in the tech landscape.

→ Feb 2017

🇬🇧 Some Good Reasons to Leave Academia

A candid examination of why I left my tenured position after 14 years in French academia.

→
View all articles →
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Publications

53
Publications
20+
Years of Research
6
Book Chapters
53
Graphcore C2 Card performance for image-based deep learning application
Ilyes Kacher, Maxime Portaz, Hicham Randrianarivo, and Sylvain Peyronnet
arXiv 2020
51
Image search using multilingual texts: a cross-modal learning approach between image and text
Maxime Portaz, Hicham Randrianarivo, Adrien Nivaggioli, Estelle Maudet, Christophe Servan and Sylvain Peyronnet
arXiv 2019
46
Approximate Planning and Verification for Large Markov Decision Processes
Richard Lassaigne and Sylvain Peyronnet
International Journal on Software Tools for Technology Transfer (STTT)
16
Probabilistic verification and approximation
Richard Lassaigne and Sylvain Peyronnet
Annals of Pure and Applied Logic (Journal)
View all 53 publications →

Let's connect

Available for speaking, consulting, and collaboration on search, algorithms, and AI projects.

LinkedIn Twitter / X Babbar YourTextGuru IBOU