Millions use DeepL for translations, but hardly anyone knows the founder: In one of his rare interviews, Jarek Kutyłowski explains how his AI is changing the way we work.
A lofty open-plan office in Berlin-Mitte: Jarek Kutyłowski welcomes us for an interview. In front of him is a laptop with a silent announcement on it: Undaunted. Translated from English: Undaunted. He liked the sticker, explains the founder of DeepL, Germany’s most successful start-up in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). After all, it fits his plan: Kutyłowski wants to expand his translation machine from a hidden champion to a global tech company. For years, he quietly built up the company in a Cologne industrial park, and inquiries from investors and journalists were always politely fobbed off.
Technology-obsessed and modest is how the founders and companies want to appear. DeepL’s AI is considered to be superior to even Google Translate and ChatGPT’s translations. But the time for keeping quiet seems to be over: in the past year alone, the company doubled its workforce to over 1,000 employees and opened new offices in Berlin, Tokyo and Austin. After the most recent round of financing, DeepL is worth around $2 billion. Kutyłowski wants to make the company big, he has to ask himself questions – and he is naturally undaunted here too.
Source: Stern
