
After MIT research and NASA asteroid-risk work, Grégoire Chomette built an energy company with paying customers - then chose to start over beneath the surface. His wager at AICE is that Europe’s next layer of maritime defense will be modular, autonomous and built in the water, not on a slide.

The Ulysses co-founder began with a leaking seed-planting prototype, learned what salt water does to confidence, and returned with a broader plan for autonomous work at sea.