Alex Wiltschko - Giving Computers A Sense Of Smell - [Invest Like the Best, EP.415]

My guest today is Alex Wiltschko. Alex is the founder and CEO of Osmo, a science and technology company giving computers a sense of smell. He set out on a mission to digitize our sense of smell and he describes how Osmo is teaching computers to both read and write scent. Alex was kind enough to walk me through the laboratory which you can watch in the video version of this interview on Youtube and Spotify, where he demonstrates their method to the madness. We discuss their first commercial application, Generation, which is revolutionizing the fragrance industry by dramatically accelerating the typically years-long process of custom scent creation. We discuss all of the potential business implications this technology unlocks, applications ranging from counterfeit detection to health monitoring, and creating a cutting-edge proprietary platform in a historically routine industry. Please enjoy my conversation with Alex Wiltschko.

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For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.

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Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com).

Show Notes:

(00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like the Best

(00:04:25) Introduction to Plum 1.0

(00:06:20) Synthetic Chemistry & OI

(00:07:09) Perfumer's Organ & Fragrance Creation

(00:08:03) Launching Generation Fragrance House

(00:09:15) The Fragrance Design Process

(00:12:04) AI and Olfactory Intelligence

(00:14:59) The GCMS Machine

(00:22:08) The Scent Printer

(00:26:47) The Journey of a Fragrance Enthusiast

(00:30:47) The Unsolved Problem of Scent

(00:32:45) Applying AI to the World of Scent

(00:33:17) Validating AI Predictions with Double-Blind Trials

(00:39:42) The Emotional Power of Scent

(00:49:01) Challenges & Future Prospects

(00:59:08) The Defining Moment: Digitizing Smell

(01:00:41) The Kindest Thing Anyone Has Ever Done For Alex