François Mattens is Vice President of Public Affairs at XXII, a leading French start-up specializing in AI-powered computer vision. He is also the co-founder of Defence Angels, the largest business angel network dedicated to the defence sector, helping to structure private investment and support high-potential start-ups in service of French and European sovereignty.

In parallel, he teaches at Sciences Po, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, and Université PSL Paris Dauphine. As a columnist, he writes for Forbes and Harvard Business Review France on innovation management and organizational transformation.

Previously, he served as Director of Innovation at GICAT (the French Land Defence and Security Industry Association), where he co-founded GENERATE, the first accelerator dedicated to defence and security start-ups. He is also a young auditor of IHEDN, IHEMI, the École de Guerre, and CHEDE.