Can you tell us about yourself and your background?
I'm Adnane, born and raised (mostly) in France. I pursued aerospace engineering at Supaero in Toulouse, specializing in data science and applied mathematics. After graduating, I joined HP in the UK as a fraud detection data scientist, eager to apply my skills to something impactful. Over five years, I developed AI and ML algorithms to help HP combat fraud and also became a Certified Fraud Examiner within the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), the largest anti-fraud community worldwide.
Why did you choose to start your journey as an entrepreneur?
I always knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur. I wanted to channel my creativity toward meaningful problems and impactful solutions. I learned during my years at HP how to leverage AI to boost fraud detection. But I still saw investigators struggling with time-consuming, manual tasks—sifting through thousands of documents, reports, and online resources. With the latest advancements of AI, I realized there was a more efficient solution to be built to considerably reduce those tasks and stop more fraud sooner. Initially, I considered freelancing, but I knew that building my own venture was the best way to tackle the problem at scale.
Tell us a bit more about the problem you’re setting out to solve and how you’re solving it.
Currently, fraud detection in public procurement often relies on whistleblowers who report issues after money has already been lost. Investigators face a complex task, needing to go through endless pages of contracts, unstructured data, contracts, invoices, emails, and so on—work that’s beyond human capacity on a large scale At Alphaguard, we’re leveraging the latest in AI and LLMs to create AI agents capable of performing these tasks in minutes. These agents analyze thousands of documents, cross-reference data from various sources, and identify anomalies that could indicate fraud. This approach significantly reduces the time investigators spend on preliminary work, allowing them to tackle more cases quicker, stopping fraud sooner and limiting losses.
What led you to apply to Antler, and how has it supported you and Alphaguard?
I explored a few programs, but Antler stood out. As a CTO, I was looking for a partner with a strong business background ready to build a bold AI-focused startup. Antler’s commitment to launching impactful AI companies was a perfect match. Through Antler, I met my co-founder, Alexandre—a past founder with AI experience. Antler’s network and support have been invaluable. With LPs who understand the fraud detection challenges and international context we address, we’ve received both introductions and validation from industry experts.
What milestones have you achieved since Antler’s investment?
Since Antler’s backing, we’ve hired three key tech profiles, including a former CTO of a Forbes 30 Under 30 startup. We’ve secured a partnership with a major European development bank, and we’ll soon present our progress at an exclusive conference for all EU development banks. Most importantly, we’ve developed a working prototype capable of identifying complex fraud schemes, setting a solid foundation for Alphaguard’s next steps
