Hi, I am Louis-François Bouchard, but Louis is fine. I am from Montreal, Canada, and I am probably easiest to find online as What’s AI.
The simple version is this: I try to make AI easier to understand without pretending it is simpler than it is. I explain the research, the tools, the engineering tradeoffs, and the annoying details that show up when you move from a cool demo to something people can actually use.
I am the co-founder and CTO of Towards AI, where we publish AI education, courses, newsletters, books, and practical resources for people building with artificial intelligence. We also help teams learn and adopt AI through training and enablement work.
Before focusing full time on Towards AI, I studied and worked in AI in Montreal, including graduate work around artificial intelligence and computer vision at ÉTS, Mila, and Polytechnique Montréal. I eventually left the PhD path because I wanted to build and teach faster, closer to the messy problems people actually face with AI systems.
These days, most of my work is around practical AI engineering: large language models, RAG, prompting, fine-tuning, AI agents, evals, structured outputs, observability, and production workflows. I care a lot about the gap between “it runs” and “it works reliably enough to matter.”
My bias is pretty simple. Start with the boring thing that works. Make the workflow clear. Give the model good tools. Add evals before you add more complexity. Then, if the problem really needs autonomy, build an agent. A lot of projects fail because they jump straight to the impressive architecture and skip the parts that make the system trustworthy.
That is also how I try to write and make videos. Less magic, more useful detail. I want someone watching or reading to leave with a better mental model, not just a list of buzzwords.
You will find a few types of work here:
- Practical explanations of LLMs, AI agents, RAG, prompting, fine-tuning, and model behavior.
- Notes on new AI research and products, usually with the question “what is actually useful here?”
- Learning paths for people trying to go from beginner to serious AI builder.
- Resources from Towards AI, including courses, community, books, and company training.
Speaking and workshops
I also speak and lead workshops for AI engineering conferences, universities, technical communities, and company teams. The topics are usually practical AI engineering: agents, RAG, evaluation, context engineering, memory, production workflows, and how teams decide what to build beyond demos.
Recent public examples include:
- AI Engineer Europe 2026, where I co-led the “Build Your Own Deep Research Agent + Technical Writer” workshop with Paul Iusztin and Samridhi Vaid. The full AI Engineer workshop recording is on YouTube.
- AI Engineer World’s Fair 2026 in San Francisco, where I co-led “Context Engineering in 2026: Compaction, Memory & Cost” with Samridhi Vaid and Omar Solano.
- The AI Engineer World’s Fair online-track keynote, Turn 10,994 Notes Into Memory, with Paul Iusztin.
- Uphill Conf 2026 in Bern, Switzerland, where I gave the keynote-style talk “Workflows, Agents, and Multi-Agent Systems.”
- University of San Diego, where I gave a guest talk on AI engineering, workflows, agents, and multi-agent systems.
I have also spoken with other groups and communities. If you want me to speak at your event, workshop, university, company, or private group, send the event date, audience, format, location, and topic through the speaking contact form.
Outside of AI, I still like the same things I have always liked: learning, sports, philosophy, neuroscience, nutrition, good books, and getting enough sleep. That last one still does more for productivity than most tools people argue about online.
If you want to support the work, the best places are YouTube, Substack, LinkedIn, and the Learn AI Together Discord community.
If you want to work together on AI training or company enablement, Towards AI can help.
FAQ
Who is Louis-François Bouchard?
Louis-François Bouchard is the creator of What's AI and co-founder and CTO of Towards AI, where he focuses on practical AI education and AI engineering.
What does What's AI focus on?
What's AI focuses on explaining AI research, AI engineering, LLMs, agents, computer vision, and the practical decisions behind building with these systems.
Where should I start if I am new here?
Start with the learning guides if you want a path, the topic hubs if you want a specific area, or the blog if you want the newest explanations and notes.
What does Louis do at Towards AI?
Louis works on the technical and education side of Towards AI, including courses, community, AI engineering content, and company enablement.
Can Louis speak at conferences or company events?
Yes. Use the contact form with the event date, audience, format, topic, and whether you need a talk, workshop, panel, or internal session.