Curiosity Is What Sparks New Ideas: Interview with Alexandre Robicquet, Co-Founder and CEO of Crossing Minds

I recently went one on one with Alexandre Robicquet, co-founder and CEO of Crossing Minds.

Adam: Thanks again for taking the time to share your advice. First things first, though, I am sure readers would love to learn more about you. How did you get here? What experiences, failures, setbacks or challenges have been most instrumental to your growth? 

Alex: Crossing Minds was founded to help online businesses across sectors—from e-commerce retailers to streaming platforms—make ultra-tailored product and content recommendations for products consumers will love, without using their personal data.

The idea came to life while I was studying for my Master’s degrees in AI and mathematics. My co-founder, Emile Contal, and I worked together at Paris Sciences et Lettres University, and Sebastian Thrun, our other co-founder, was my professor at Stanford University. We were Pandora fiends, always talking about it and exchanging music. However, I felt disappointed by their recommendations and concluded that they should look more like those that come from best friends who know us best. With each discussion, we agreed that it was time to take matters into our hands and build a better, more accurate recommendation engine – and that’s what we did.

Today, Crossing Minds is a B2B AI-powered platform helping businesses of all kinds deliver highly personalized recommendations without the need for customers’ demographic data, like their age, gender, and location. Instead, we rely on our in-house developed method that leverages customers’ on-site behaviors, like clicks, and demonstrated interests to match them up with the perfect recommendation – all while maintaining strict data privacy.

This solution has only become more timely, as tech giants phase out third-party cookies and consumers begin waking up to just how much their personal data is exploited every day.

My advice for others to come up with great ideas is to lean into your area of expertise (for us, it was research), rely on your skills and knowledge, and leverage these to deliver the best product or solution possible. Additionally, partnering with trusted mentors and professors is also invaluable when it comes to receiving feedback and hearing an alternative perspective.

Adam: How did you know your business idea was worth pursuing? What advice do you have on how to best test a business idea?

Alex: Crossing Minds’ mission at founding remains the same as it is today: provide a solution to unanswered customer demands and expectations. The lack of privacy in the online world has become an increasingly pervasive issue. Customers expect better online experiences—ones that are more private, yet also seamless and personalized—but for years, businesses have lacked the resources to meet those demands. This results in a loss of customer engagement, trust, and loyalty in the long term. Alongside my team, I found evidence that confirmed this hypothesis: without personalized, private online experiences, customers would turn their back on businesses and take their shopping habits elsewhere. At that point, the issue was clear, and the ball was in our court.

Just like everyone else today, I am also an online user. I have personally experienced the disappointment that comes with expecting personalized recommendations and receiving a generalized suggestion that does not reflect my taste, and also navigated the web while businesses used my personal data for their own benefit while I worried about my privacy. It wasn’t only my research and expertise that guided me to believe my idea was worth pursuing, but also my experiences that powered the desire to find a solution to the lack of online personalization and privacy.

Testing an idea requires being an active listener and paying attention to your target audience’s demands; what their focus is on and what they care about. Additionally, being your own product’s user and experiencing it first-hand will nudge you in the right direction, and become key indicators of whether your business idea is necessary enough to become successful.

Adam: What are the key steps you have taken to grow your business? What advice do you have for others on how to take their businesses to the next level?

Alex: It’s no secret that personalization is critical across industries. As such, we took the necessary steps to ensure our platform could supercharge any business's online presence and engagement with its customers, regardless of their industry. From retail to art to events, we assured that AI-powered personalization could be radically accessible and less daunting in order to meet customers where they were.

Finding the right partner investors–in our case, Radical, Index and Shopify, among others–investing in lead generation and business development became key to ensuring our base was strong enough to grow into a successful company and achieve our goals, year after year. Customer satisfaction also plays a paramount role. Their approval defines whether they’ll become returning customers or speak positively of our business, and thus, allow it to grow. Therefore, taking a hands-on approach with customers is preeminent to deliver the best possible experience while using our platform.

Adam: What are the most important trends in technology that leaders should be aware of and understand? What should they understand about them?

Alex: Artificial Intelligence is on the rise and evolving, gradually taking on a bigger role in our daily lives and across a variety of business sectors. But as efficient and powerful as it may be becoming, it can also be leveraged by businesses in unethical ways.

At the same time as AI on the rise, customer privacy is a growing priority and concern among customers. As we witness third-party cookies being phased out, more industry giants like Sephora are facing the consequences of prioritizing users’ personal data over their privacy. Accordingly, I believe that we’ll start seeing more companies leverage AI in ethical practices, and other third-party cookie-free technologies to improve personalization and online experiences—and therefore bolster customer loyalty.

For years, businesses have relied on their customers’ demographic data to personalize their online experiences. But as expectations evolve, businesses must evolve with them. This means deprioritizing intrusive tracking methods, and replacing them with tools that show customers what they actually want — and AI is key.

Adam: In your experience, what are the defining qualities of an effective leader? How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level?

Alex: Being a constant learner and staying curious makes an effective leader.

Curiosity is what sparks new ideas. From staying up to date with current events to reading books and questioning our own methods, asking questions allows us to view a product or solution from a different perspective, and therefore guides us to approach a situation differently from what we are used to. It keeps us creative and engaged. AI and tech are continuously evolving – but so is every industry, and it’s key for leaders to stay on top of these changes by keeping these qualities top of mind.

With time, new technologies and trends arise, and as such, hires from diverse backgrounds tend to bring in new ideas and points of view. Leadership is about being open to new ideas, fostering a creative and innovative space where every opinion is welcome; no employee is too junior to teach, and no leader is too senior to learn.

Bottom line is, there is no such thing as knowing enough or everything about your industry or audience – that’s the beauty of being a leader in an ever-evolving landscape.

Adam: What is your best advice on building, leading and managing teams?

Alex: Be transparent and lead by example. 

Transparency comes from the idea that your highs can be as high as your lows are lows. That simple realization, combined with the fact that you should only hire people that are smarter than you at their role makes for a team with whom connecting and being transparent would be simple (not easy, but simpler). 

Being transparent with a team that shares your values and are as smart, if not smarter than you, can guarantee support and trust that are vital when times get tough. While many companies have seen a great amount of employee turnover over the past 2+ years, the Crossing Minds team has only grown since 2020 – which is a testament to the culture of transparency and trust we’ve created here.

Leading by example is again, simple but not easy. There is something powerful in seeing we are all on the same boat, and I would never ask for anything I haven’t or wouldn’t do myself if I could – and my team knows it. 

Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to entrepreneurs, executives and civic leaders?

Alex: When building a team and your values, do not confuse what you wish you were with what you really are. Self-awareness is key to building, spreading, and inspiring. 

Never point out a problem without having thought of a solution. 

You can only ask as much as you are giving. A great leader serves. 

Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received?

Alex: Create a product that solves a real, repeated problem – but do not invent a problem because you have a product. 

Adam: Is there anything else you would like to share?

Alex: Last year, Crossing Minds was honored to become the first and only AI recommendation system backed by Shopify. This means that Crossing Minds' personalization can help empower small- and mid-size businesses to differentiate themselves online in an unprecedented way. We’re excited to see millions of Shopify merchants now able to provide ultra-tailored product recommendations even more effectively than mega e-commerce giants—even without the copious amounts of data industry giants have access to, thanks to our unique tech and AI.


Adam Mendler is the CEO of The Veloz Group, where he co-founded and oversees ventures across a wide variety of industries. Adam is also the creator and host of the business and leadership podcast Thirty Minute Mentors, where he goes one on one with America's most successful people - Fortune 500 CEOs, founders of household name companies, Hall of Fame and Olympic gold medal winning athletes, political and military leaders - for intimate half-hour conversations each week. Adam has written extensively on leadership, management, entrepreneurship, marketing and sales, having authored over 70 articles published in major media outlets including Forbes, Inc. and HuffPost, and has conducted more than 500 one on one interviews with America’s top leaders through his collective media projects. A top leadership speaker, Adam draws upon his insights building and leading businesses and interviewing hundreds of America's top leaders as a top keynote speaker to businesses, universities and non-profit organizations.

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