Usage is there, ownership isn't
31% of French SMEs already use generative AI, and 60% of the companies surveyed by Coface (900 decision-makers, all company sizes) have no formal framework for it.
Bpifrance Le Lab (FR) · Coface study, Oct. 2026 (FR)I design · I build · I ship
I don't just advise: I build. A focused business problem becomes a tool running on your own data. Target: 10 working days, once the scope is approved and the required data access is in place.
Laurent Sbeghen · developer and AI consultant for over 25 years · Martigues, Aix-en-Provence, Marseille and remote
No commitment · an honest answer if it's not a fit
Or a fractional AI lead, without hiring →
- Over 25 years of web & software development
- References: ARTE, 24 Hours of Le Mans
- You own the code, data and docs
01 — Reality check
The question is no longer “should we use AI?”
Ideas stay on a slide
Everyone has an idea for an assistant, a dashboard or an automation. Nobody has time to build it and see if it holds up.
Test before you invest
A production MVP is a big spend for an untested idea. First, find out if it holds up.
Plot twist
You think you need a new AI tool.
What you really need is someone who builds it with you.
There is no shortage of tools. What's missing is people who turn an idea into running software, then explain it to your team.
Hands-on
I don't stop at the report.
No recommendations left in a drawer: I write the code, integrate it and put it into service. You leave with a working tool, the source code and the documentation.
What I actually deliver
- Automations for repetitive tasks
- Connectors between your tools (CRM, ERP, spreadsheets, APIs)
- Scripts and document processing (PDF, extraction, sorting)
- Internal tools and dashboards
- Prototypes you test on your own data
- WordPress integrations and migrations
- Team training on their real cases
Lab
The lab: what I'm building right now
Personal projects and prototypes, with an honest status: published, working, done or in progress.
Published
TinyAGENT
What : A teaching AI agent built from scratch.
How : LLM loop, tools, skills, persistent memory in V3; V4 retrieval in preparation.
Code on GitHub ↗ (new tab)YouTube series “Un agent IA, sans magie” (French) ↗ (new tab)
Working prototype
Cloudflare RAG chatbot
What : A document assistant that answers from your own content.
How : JS widget, Workers, AI Search, streaming, cited sources, quotas, history, feedback.
Done
Mini-GEO-Bench
What : Measures a site's visibility in ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity.
How : Crawl, answer comparison, CSV report.
In progress
Hermes & M.E.T.A.
What : An autonomous agent architecture and a lean agentic memory.
How : Sub-agents, tools, skills, multi-model routing; selective recall and consolidation, with a dedicated evaluation set.
Prototype
Smart Event Matchmaker
What : A web app for trade fair and exhibition visitors: it ranks the stands worth visiting for your profile.
How : AI rebuilds the exhibitor list from a web page or a copy-paste; consumer mode by keywords, business mode with a company “manifesto” and a reason per exhibitor; mini-CRM visit plan (to meet / skip). Astro SSR, React, SQLite/Drizzle, LLM via OpenRouter, Cheerio.
Coming soon
WPtoDash
What : An in-house tool to migrate a WordPress site.
How : That's all we'll say for now.
02 — Services
Three ways to work together, all built to deliver
No price list: every project gets a written quote within 48 hours of the call. If scoping is useful, it is credited against the build.
Flagship
Focused Prototype, built by me
target · 10 working days
Target: a prototype you can test in 10 working days, once the scope is approved and the required data access is in place.
- Document assistant, PDF extraction, dashboard, tool-to-tool connector…
- Mid-point demo and final demo with your team
- Source code, hosted on your accounts, documented
- Clear list of what production would require
Ongoing
Fractional AI Lead
2 days per month
Two days a month on the agreed priorities: improvements and small builds, tool choices, training and usage follow-up.
- Improvements and tweaks to tools in place, roadmap
- Usage policy and team training on real cases
- New projects and maintenance: scoped separately
- No long lock-in: 1-month notice
Optional
Scoping before the build
½–1 day · or up to 3 days
Only if the first project isn't clear yet. It ends with a firm quote for the build, not a report.
- Focused assessment (half a day to a day): use cases ranked by value, feasibility and risk (GDPR, EU AI Act)
- In-depth scoping (up to three days): workshop with leadership and 1–2 domain leads, clickable mock-up of use case #1
- Deliverable: written note and firm quote for the build
- Credited against the prototype if you go ahead
03 — Proof
Trusted by
ARTE24 Hours of Le Mans
Balis, 2016–2017
24 Hours of Le Mans
Android / iOS app with Bluetooth (BLE) beacon geolocation to guide visitors around the circuit.
art-o-base, 2006–2008
ARTE
CSS web design of the “Twenty Show” web series MySpace page (2008) and of a sub-site for the show “Chic”.
04 — The P.A.R.L.E. method
The P.A.R.L.E. method: like a training plan, not a black box
I coach people and machines. Over 25 years of athletics coaching taught me to measure, correct and improve in short cycles: that is how I build prototypes.
« If it isn't worth continuing, I'll say so. »
P — Prioritise
Spot the repetitive, time-consuming tasks and rank them by impact, feasibility and risk.
A — Analyse
Review your tools, data, confidentiality and GDPR constraints before writing a line of code.
R — Realise
Hands-on: I build the workflow, script, internal assistant or integration, tested on your real cases.
L — Launch & train
Go-live, documentation, scripts and team onboarding: a skills handover, not a dependency.
E — Evaluate
Measure real gains, listen to field feedback, adjust and decide what comes next.
P.A.R.L.E. means “talk” in French: that's what « Il faut qu'on parle » (“we need to talk”) is about.
05 — Track record
Since 2000
Over 25 years building for the web: from freelance studio to startup, from agency to AI.
2000 · Freelance
art-o-base, freelance web studio
Custom, WordPress and Joomla sites for small businesses and agencies. For ARTE: CSS web design of the “Twenty Show” MySpace page (2008) and of a sub-site for the show “Chic”, hosted by Églantine Éméyé.
ARTE
2016 · Founder
Balis, “physical web” startup
Bluetooth beacons and a no-code platform. For the 24 Hours of Le Mans: an Android / iOS app with BLE geolocation.
2018 · WordPress developer & AI trainer
ANSWEB, Aix-Marseille digital agency
About eight years agency-side: custom WordPress builds, then AI training delivered agency-side: LLM fundamentals, professional uses of LLMs, AI for image and video.
2026 · Today
Il faut qu'on parle
Useful AI for small businesses: prototypes you can test on a focused scope, then ongoing support.
25+ years building software
06 — About
Laurent Sbeghen
I've built websites since 2000: sixteen years freelancing, owning the whole stack — architecture, database, development, hosting. In 2016 I founded BALIS, a connected-objects startup later based at Château-Gombert (Marseille) and covered by La Provence and Stratégies. Then about eight years at Answeb, a digital agency near Aix-en-Provence: custom WordPress, SEO, performance, security, GDPR and AI training for teams.
Today I design AI agent systems with one rule: define what they observe, what they may change, how results are checked, and when a human decides.
I use generative AI daily to build faster — and I know where it fails. That's what I bring: a practitioner's enthusiasm and the caution of someone who has maintained production code.
I have also coached sprinters and jumpers in athletics for more than 25 years: passing on skills, correcting technique and progressing step by step is the same teaching approach I use with your teams.
Based near Marseille (Provence, France). On-site in the south of France, remote everywhere else, in English and French.
FAQ
How much does it cost?
A written quote within 48 hours of the call. Any scoping is credited against the build. No overrun without your written approval.
Who maintains it afterwards?
You, with the docs, or me as your fractional lead. No obligation.
I don't know what to automate yet.
That's what the focused assessment (half a day to a day) or, if needed, in-depth scoping (up to three days) is for: we pick the case with the best value/effort ratio. If your need is already scoped, we go straight to the prototype. Either way, the goal is to ship a tool, not a report.
Our data is sensitive.
We work on your accounts, with anonymised data if needed, and check GDPR and EU AI Act constraints before writing code. When the data calls for it, I favour EU hosting, European providers or self-hosted open-source models.
What if the prototype doesn't convince?
You keep the code and the learnings. Better to learn that after a prototype than after six months.
Do you resell tools?
No commissions. Tools are chosen for your case, often ones you already pay for.
Resources (in French)
Guides to choose well, then build.
Automatisation commerciale · 7 min
Automatiser la relance des devis sans déshumaniser la relation client
Une méthode pour repérer les devis à relancer, préparer le bon message et garder la décision commerciale du côté de l'équipe.
→Automatisation administrative · 8 min
Automatiser le traitement des factures vers Excel sans perdre le contrôle
De la réception du PDF à la ligne validée dans un tableau : les étapes, contrôles et exceptions à prévoir avant d'automatiser.
→Intégration et workflows · 8 min
Connecter CRM, ERP et tableur sans multiplier les doubles saisies
Une méthode pour faire circuler la bonne information entre les outils, sans créer une synchronisation fragile ou des données contradictoires.
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