Firmenich has announced the inauguration of its Digital Lab – D-Lab – in partnership with the Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), an institution for science and technology. Said to be a key milestone of Firmenich’s digital strategy, D-Lab is dedicated to harnessing Artificial Intelligence (AI) to augment the group’s innovation across fragrance and taste creation. Expanding Firmenich’s footprint to the EPFL Innovation Park, the digital hub brings together Firmenich creators and experts with key members of the Campus’s ecosystem.

“Ever since our creation as a start-up 123 years ago, pushing the boundaries of science and technology has always been our engine of growth,” said Gilbert Ghostine, CEO Firmenich. “Fueled by EPFL’s unique innovation ecosystem, D-Lab puts Firmenich at the forefront of A.I., to augment our creativity for even greater speed and personalized solutions.”

“While digitalization is disrupting business models across every industry, it is also generating exciting new business opportunities,” said Martin Vetterli, President of EPFL. “By combining the dynamic start-up ecosystem based at the EPFL, with Firmenich’s industry-leading innovation, together we will be able to apply breakthrough science to create bespoke sensorial experiences faster than ever before.”

“D-Lab is all about converging human creativity with digital technologies to augment our creation capabilities,” explained Eric Saracchi, CIO, Firmenich. “It’s exciting to be stepping into unchartered territory with our creators to accelerate our industry’s next technology frontier.”

EPFL is one of Firmenich’s most long-standing academic partners, where the group recently created the Firmenich Chair in Neurosciences.