Laurent Sifre, Co-founder of Paris-based artificial intelligence startup H Company, has joined Microsoft, marking another significant leadership change for one of France’s highest-profile AI ventures. The move was reported by Sifted on September 4, 2026, several months after Sifre stepped back from his operational responsibilities at H Company and became head of its scientific council. His departure means none of H Company’s original five cofounders now remain in day-to-day operational roles at the startup.
From H Company to Microsoft
Sifre’s move brings an experienced AI researcher into Microsoft at a time when major technology companies continue competing aggressively for talent capable of developing advanced artificial intelligence systems. The specific position Sifre will hold at Microsoft and the projects he will work on have not been publicly detailed, while neither company has disclosed further terms surrounding his appointment. His transition nevertheless represents a notable recruitment for Microsoft given his extensive background in foundational AI research and agent-based systems.
Before establishing H Company, Sifre spent approximately nine years at DeepMind, where he worked as a researcher on several prominent artificial intelligence projects. He has publicly cited contributions to programs including AlphaGo, AlphaFold, AlphaStar, Chinchilla, Gemini and Gemma during his time at the Google-owned AI laboratory. That experience subsequently formed part of the technical foundation behind H Company, which Sifre launched alongside Charles Kantor, Daan Wierstra, Karl Tuyls and Julien Perolat.
H Company’s Leadership Evolution
H Company emerged publicly in 2024 with an unusually large $220 million seed financing and an ambition to develop so-called action models capable of performing tasks rather than simply generating information. Sifre initially served as chief technology officer and worked on the company’s agentic AI stack, including specialized models designed to navigate digital interfaces and execute multi-step workflows. The startup positioned its technology for enterprise applications where AI agents could automate complex processes and improve employee productivity.
The company’s founding team, however, changed rapidly after its launch, with Wierstra, Tuyls and Perolat leaving in 2024 because of what H Company described as operational differences. Another major change followed when Gautier Cloix, previously the head of Palantir’s French operations, became chief executive, while cofounder Charles Kantor stepped away from operational leadership and remained involved as a shareholder. Sifre continued as CTO until May 2026, when he moved into the non-operational position of head of the company’s scientific council.
Building Agentic AI
During his time at H Company, Sifre was closely associated with the development of the startup’s technology for autonomous digital agents. The company has focused on systems that combine language, visual understanding and action capabilities, enabling software agents to interpret digital interfaces and complete tasks across websites and enterprise applications. Sifre previously described H’s approach as building an integrated agentic stack consisting of specialized action models and the agents that use those models.
The strategy placed H Company within a rapidly growing segment of the AI industry focused on shifting generative AI from conversational assistance toward autonomous task execution. Large technology groups including Microsoft are increasingly developing similar capabilities as they integrate AI agents into productivity software, cloud platforms and enterprise systems. Sifre’s combination of experience in frontier AI research and commercial agent development therefore gives Microsoft additional expertise relevant to that broader technological shift.
Sifre’s move to Microsoft closes another chapter in the evolution of H Company’s original leadership while extending the migration of prominent European AI researchers toward major global technology groups. For H Company, the departure follows a series of management changes that have transformed the startup since its heavily financed debut, while leaving Gautier Cloix and the current leadership team responsible for its next stage of commercialization. For Microsoft, recruiting a researcher with experience spanning DeepMind’s landmark AI programs and H Company’s agentic technology adds further depth to its push into increasingly autonomous artificial intelligence systems.
Source: Sifted