COO at LightOn
LightOn builds AI Search & Reason for enterprise clients. Publicly listed on Euronext Growth. Responsible for operational excellence, policy and building custom sector-specific solutions (Applied AI / FDE team).
Milo Rignell
Paris, France
Milo Rignell is COO at LightOn, with past experience at Centre pour la Sécurité de l'IA - CeSIA, Institut Montaigne, CEN and CENELEC, studied at The Machine Learning Institute.
Bio
I serve as the Chief Operating Officer at LightOn, where I focus on scaling generative AI technologies. My background includes extensive work in AI policy and governance, including my roles as a Board Member at the Centre pour la Sécurité de l'IA and as a Fellow at Institut Montaigne. I am also a committee member for CEN and CENELEC’s JTC 21, contributing to the development of international standards for artificial intelligence.
Links
Work Experience
Treasurer, Board of Directors at Centre pour la Sécurité de l'IA - CeSIA
Fellow - AI & Emerging Technologies at Institut Montaigne
Head of AI & Emerging Technologies, Resident Fellow at Institut Montaigne
Directed AI programme for France's leading think tank, managing a team of 3 analysts and working groups of European CEOs, government officials, and leading academics. Conducted 400+ interviews. Authored 7 policy reports — notably on building safe general purpose AI, creating France's AI Safety Institute and digital infrastructure strategy — that directly informed government strategy and minister briefings. Also led work on European financing, conducting 7 policy briefs and a report on the future of the European banking sector. Contributed to EU AI Act discussions at French and European levels; committee member of CEN-CENELEC JTC 21 (European AI standards body); moderated track 1.5 and track 2 AI policy dialogues.
Head of Innovation & Special projects at Institut Montaigne
Built Institut Montaigne's innovation programme, responsible for developing impact-driven digital products and policy experimentations leveraging the think tank's expertise and network. Conceived and scaled Destination AI, one of the most widely followed online AI literacy courses, with 500K+ learners, a 70% completion rate. Built with France's AI Special Envoy and a scientific committee including Stuart Russell and Yann LeCun. Set up partnerships with 80+ partner organisations and 2 national AI strategies - France & Canada. Coordinated a working group on auditing AI systems in "high risk" sectors ahead of the EU AI Act. Developed a research-based mathematics programme and app with French NGO Agir pour l'école. Independently evaluated on 800+ children (Lyon Research Center) with a 60% performance improvement. Followed with 1000+ children per year nationally.
Chief of Staff at Institut Montaigne
Right-hand to the Director while the think tank doubled in size. Assisted with operational activities, including coordinating with the think tank's policy and communication teams, preparing briefings, talking points and board meetings, and participating in fundraising meetings with Institut Montaigne's >200 corporate members, as well as frequent policy meetings in France and abroad. Worked with the Director on strategic projects, including a paper on improving decision-making and delivery at the head of the French state.
Committee Member, JTC 21 "Artificial Intelligence" at CEN and CENELEC
Co-Founder at Teech
Co-founded EdTech startup Teech, to make expert knowledge instantly accessible. The platform provided users with on-demand access to a network of teachers from the world's best universities, via in-app video calls. Raised seed funding (600K €), built the user base from scratch, and designed and developed the Teech App leading a team of 3 engineers.
President at Hertford Business and Economics Society
Working closely with Hertford College Principal Will Hutton to organise speaker events and debates. Focus on the UK's future relationship with the EU, Speakers include Mervyn King, Ed Balls, Chris Patten and Andrew Adonis.
Data Analytics Project Lead at Big Innovation Centre
Helped organise the All-Party Parliamentary Group on AI (APPG AI) evidence meetings for the UK Parliament. Performed exploratory data analysis around the UK's Research Excellence Framework (REF).
Summer Intern at Coral Reef IO
Worked with the founders of early stage VC Coral Reef IO.
Co-founder at BeNotes
Built a collaborative website aimed at free note-sharing amongst students. Grew the platform to 700,000 note views and 1200 active users.
Advisory Intern at Aegis Defence Services
Responsible for producing up-to-date risk analysis reports on several countries around the world, including China, India, Somalia and Colombia.
Education
LLM training (text, image, audio), embeddings & RAG, LoRA, DPO at The Machine Learning Institute
SERI Summer Research Fellowship, AI governance at Stanford University
Bachelor's Degree, Philosophy, Politics, Economics (PPE) at University of Oxford
Game Theory, Logic, Ethics/Metaethics, Economics of...
High School, Scientific Baccalaureate at Ecole Jeannine Manuel
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Milo Rignell?
I serve as the Chief Operating Officer at LightOn, where I focus on scaling generative AI technologies. My background includes extensive work in AI policy and governance, including my roles as a Board Member at the Centre pour la Sécurité de l'IA and as a Fellow at Institut Montaigne. I am also a committee member for CEN and CENELEC’s JTC 21, contributing to the development of international standards for artificial intelligence.
What is Milo Rignell's professional background?
Milo Rignell's experience includes: COO at LightOn (Mar 2024 – Present); Treasurer, Board of Directors at Centre pour la Sécurité de l'IA - CeSIA (Jan 2025 – Present); Fellow - AI & Emerging Technologies at Institut Montaigne (Mar 2024 – Present); Head of AI & Emerging Technologies, Resident Fellow at Institut Montaigne (Jan 2022 – Mar 2024); Head of Innovation & Special projects at Institut Montaigne (Aug 2020 – Jan 2022); Chief of Staff at Institut Montaigne (Aug 2018 – Aug 2020); Committee Member, JTC 21 "Artificial Intelligence" at CEN and CENELEC (May 2023 – Mar 2024); Co-Founder at Teech (Mar 2015 – Aug 2018); President at Hertford Business and Economics Society (Sep 2016 – Jan 2018); Data Analytics Project Lead at Big Innovation Centre (Jul 2017 – Oct 2017); Summer Intern at Coral Reef IO (Aug 2016 – Sep 2016); Co-founder at BeNotes (2013 – 2015); Advisory Intern at Aegis Defence Services (Jul 2014 – Aug 2014).
Where did Milo Rignell study?
LLM training (text, image, audio), embeddings & RAG, LoRA, DPO at The Machine Learning Institute (Apr 2025 – May 2025); SERI Summer Research Fellowship, AI governance at Stanford University (Jun 2022 – Aug 2022); Bachelor's Degree, Philosophy, Politics, Economics (PPE) at University of Oxford (2015 – 2018); High School, Scientific Baccalaureate at Ecole Jeannine Manuel (2001 – 2014).
How can I find Milo Rignell online?
Milo Rignell can be found at: LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/milo-rignell-b84064a3.
Who does Milo Rignell know?
Milo Rignell is connected with: Adrien Guilmineau ↗, Alice Wachtmeister ↗, Mathias Pastor ↗.