Jérôme Jacq
Chapter 01
Story

Where I come from.

The story of Jérôme Jacq, artificial intelligence consultant in Angers, France.

The résumé is a genre. Three columns, one line per job, and twenty years end up fitting on a single page. Useful — but it tells you nothing. Here's the long version, the one that says why.

Education, foundations

Before

I didn't grow up thinking I'd work in AI. I grew up thinking I'd make things. Take apart, understand, put back together — it started very early, and it's still the thread.

Preparatory classes, then a software engineering school (ENSSAT, 2005). Then nearly ten years at IT services firms writing Java for major accounts — Teamlog, then Thales Services, on assignments for Orange, La Poste, the SNCF, Bureau Veritas, MACIF. I learned to ship under constraint, for systems that aren't allowed to go down.

The turning point came in 2014: Scrum Master at Conserto, on a long assignment with France's national health insurance. I liked the work enough that Cnam hired me in-house in 2018 — where I became a product and technical lead. Mission-critical environments as a school of rigor — it's still my day job.

The workshop, on the side

The turn

In late 2025, I felt the line between “the one who imagines” and “the one who codes” turning porous. The tools — you know which ones — were collapsing the cost of experimentation. I made a simple decision: open a workshop, quit nothing, and build.

Not to chase a unicorn. To make objects that are worth something in themselves. Small, right, finished. The engineer's craft carried into the LLM era — run alongside twenty years in mission-critical systems.

Two products, several engagements

Today

I run Tako, a platform that brings conversational AI back to where it's useful: the everyday life of freelancers and small teams. And Lima, a PWA built for theater improvisers — a product that didn't exist and deserved to.

In between, I take on a few client projects directly, no platform, no commission. Short, dense contracts where I work with the client — not for them.

Milestones

The markers, in brief.

  1. 2001
    Prep years

    Preparatory classes, first all-nighters writing code. The curiosity settles in for good.

  2. 2005
    Degree

    Software engineering degree (ENSSAT). The craft begins for real.

  3. 2005–14
    Major accounts

    Nearly ten years at IT services firms — Teamlog, then Thales Services. Java for Orange, La Poste, the SNCF, Bureau Veritas, MACIF.

  4. 2014
    Conserto

    Scrum Master on a long assignment with France's national health insurance. The field work sticks.

  5. 2018
    Cnam

    Hired in-house. Product and technical lead — still in the role today.

  6. 2025
    The AI shift

    OpenClaw: the first agent tool I tamed. The workshop opens, alongside everything else.

  7. 2026
    Tako & Lima

    Two products in service — conversation and improv, in production.

  8. Tomorrow
    Still unwritten

    Something between publishing and a studio. Let's talk it over at the next coffee.

Beliefs

What I believe.

Short lines you write down for yourself so you don't forget them when work speeds up. I'm putting them here because they frame just about everything I do.

  • On product

    A good product is an object you can hold in your hand. Even when it's software.

  • On AI

    It's powerful when it's invisible. It's honest when it says what it doesn't know.

  • On work

    Work with someone, not for someone. A short chain of command is basic hygiene.

  • On speed

    Going fast means going well. Going well means spending time where it matters.

Next: the work, then the services.