Pierre-Alexandre Balland is a French economist & entrepreneur. He is a leading expert on complex economic systems and artificial intelligence.

Pierre-Alexandre currently serves as Chief Data Scientist at CEPS and is a Visiting Professor at Harvard University’s Growth Lab. He is the director of the AI World and co-founded General Robotics.


Pierre-Alex teaches machine learning and is a frequent keynote speaker. He has most recently presented at Slush, Unleash World, the Ideas Lab & VivaTech.

At the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), Pierre-Alex leads a team that leverages artificial intelligence and data science tools to address a wide range of public policy challenges, ranging from AI strategy & policy, industrial & innovation policy, political polarization or Ukraine’s reconstruction.

At the Harvard Kennedy School’s Growth Lab, he works with the academic team to advance fundamental research on economic complexity and its applications to technological change, industrial policy, green growth, and the future of work.

In 2018, he co-founded Argos to build AI solutions and in 2022 he co-founded 71West to accelerate blockchain development for environmental impact.

He previously held positions at Utrecht University, MIT and UCLA. He is a Visiting Professor at the Artificial and Natural Intelligence Toulouse Institute and a research fellow at the Center for Complex Systems Studies. Pierre-Alex is also a high-level policy expert that currently serves in the ESIR group to advise the European Commission on innovation policy.

CEPS projects & policy insights:
Academic collaborations & research:
AI solutions, speaking engagement & business opportunities:

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