On April 29, the Salle Gaveau vibrated to the rhythm of innovation at the 13th Margaret Awards ceremony, the grand finale of the MKIA. Over 500 influential figures from the international tech and business worlds gathered to celebrate the women who are shaping the future of artificial intelligence.
Orchestrated by Delphine Remy-Boutang, founder and CEO of JFD, and presented by Maddyness journalist Aurélie Pasquier, the event honored a new generation of bold AI female pioneers. The first major post-AI Summit gathering, JFD’s annual evening continues the work begun by converting the major orientations, use cases and projects discussed through the European AI Barometer into concrete, strategic initiatives. It’s a way of moving from vision to action, by highlighting those who are already shaping tomorrow’s AI.
At a time when artificial intelligence is reshaping the contours of our daily lives, JFD – Join Forces & Dare – unveils the 2025 Margaret, Europe’s future AI champions in 3 categories: Entrepreneur, Intrapreneur and Junior.
The 2025 winners of the Margaret Awards are:
Margaret Entrepreneur 2025 – Iris MARÉCHAL, Co-founder & CEO Theremia
She is revolutionising precision medicine in neurology, with her AI platform capable of personalising treatments according to each patient’s individual data. This is a major advance, given that standardised treatments are ineffective for 60% of patients.
Prize presented by Miguel Gonzalez, Chief Digital Officer Carrefour and Barbara Sessa, Country Manager Mastercard France.
Margaret Intrapreneur 2025 – Imane FARD, IBM Technical Consultant
She has designed Speak Easy, an innovative solution that integrates an intelligent avatar into videoconferencing tools (Zoom, Teams, Meet, etc.) to facilitate communication between hearing and hearing-impaired people. This technology enables interaction thanks to AI, capable of signing, speaking and transcribing simultaneously.
Prize presented by Laura Hassan, Managing Director of Epitech and Stéphanie Zolesio, President of Casino Immobilier.
Margaret Junior 2025 – Aya AIDOUNI, 21, for Stars Factory project
Studying software engineering, she is developing Stars Factory, an AI-powered immersive platform for tailor-made space experiences. The project, already at the working prototype stage, reflects Aya’s commitment to making space exploration more accessible while valuing diversity.
Prize presented by Nathalie Collin, Managing Director of La Poste Group’s consumer and digital branch, and Laurence Lafont, COO Septeo.
The 2025 Margarets received the Lunar brooch, created by designer Constance Guisset. Inspired by the lunar surface, JFD pays tribute to Margaret Hamilton, whose technological genius made the conquest of the Moon possible, just as today’s Margarets are pushing back the frontiers of technology with boldness and determination.
On this occasion, Clara Chappaz, Minister Delegate for Artificial Intelligence and the Digital Economy, reaffirmed her commitment: “I am the Minister for AI: you can count on me to make France a champion of artificial intelligence, and I’m counting on you to ensure that every French person can understand the benefits.”
“At a time when AI is profoundly transforming our society, the 2025 Margarets embody boldness and ambition. They have been singled out for their excellence in three key areas: health, inclusion and education. They demonstrate that AI can be a lever for positive, inclusive and sustainable transformation. Through the Women rAIsing campaign, the European AI Barometer and the Margaret Awards, JFD intends to continue to inspire, federate and amplify the voices of women to ensure that tech is ever more at the service of people.” – Delphine Remy-Boutang, founder and CEO JFD – Join Forces & Dare
The Margaret Awards by JFD: a springboard for the future worth a million euros
The winners were selected by a jury of experts and committed leaders chaired by Delphine Remy-Boutang and including Miguel Gonzalez, Carrefour · Smara Lungu, Groupe La Poste · Koussée Vaneecke, EuraTechnologies · Laura Hassan, Epitech · Julie Huguet, La French Tech · Ariane Thomas, L’Oréal Groupe · Juliette Martin-Châtenet, Septeo · Alexandra Ruez, IBM · Véronique Jacq, Bpifrance · Julien Khaski, Maddyness · Sophie Iborra, La Tribune · Charlie Perreau, Les Echos · Anne-Marie Rocco, Challenges and Fabienne Arata, Linkedin France.
The 2025 Margarets now benefit from one year’s personalised support from the JFD Acceleration Programme and its partners, worth €1 million. This strategic and technological support is designed to amplify the impact of their projects and boost their profile on a European and international scale.
In addition to JFD’s support in terms of business opportunities and media visibility, the partners are deploying exceptional resources.
Contributions include:
The La Poste group will be welcoming the Margaret Junior to the heart of its Data & AI centre, where she will have a privileged discussion with Pierre-Etienne Bardin, its Chief Data Officer.
Carrefour will be providing mentors, as well as the strength of the group (40 countries, 14,000 shops, etc.) to help them develop their projects, and will be organising exchanges with women from its “Women in DigitalRetail” programme.
Epitech will be offering personalised mentoring, eloquence coaching and access to its tech and educational ecosystem.
L’Oréal Group will be inviting the 2025 Margarets to an exclusive immersion at Station F to discover its Beauty Tech Atelier programme.
Septeo will be providing its expertise and ongoing support, as will Mastercard and the Casino Group.
EuraTechnologies will provide access to its €7,000 incubation programme and enable the Margaret Junior to discover the business world (design, finance, IT, etc.) within its teams and start-up ecosystem in Lille.
IBM will provide high-level coaching from Guilhaume Leroy-Meline, its Chief Engineer, and Alexandra Ruez, Vice-President of IBM Consulting, as well as visibility at Vivatech and its Innovation Studio.
The winners will also benefit from LinkedIn training to boost their visibility and develop their network.
The 2025 Margarets are a source of inspiration for future generations and illustrate the economic and societal impact of women in technology, particularly at a time when AI is profoundly redefining our societies.
Faithful to its mission for over 10 years, JFD continues to bring together the strengths of public, private and media players to support these new leaders who are daring and helping to create an ethical, sovereign, inclusive and high-performance European AI.
Find out more about the winners of the “Women rAIsing” 2025 promotion: https://www.joinjfd.com/en/margaret-awards/
Mediakit: https://bit.ly/MediaKitJFD2025
About JFD
JFD – Join Forces & Dare – is a mission-driven company founded in 2012 by Delphine Remy-Boutang. An international accelerator and business network, JFD has been working for over 10 years to bring out the role models and leaders of tomorrow. Active in Europe, Africa and Canada, JFD brings together private, public and media players to help women enter the world of tech. In 2025, JFD has put boldness and collective action at the heart of its project to ensure the emergence of inspiring women in AI through its “women rAIsing” campaign. JFD takes action with flagship initiatives such as the ‘Margaret’ prize under the patronage of the President of the French Republic, its exclusive business network – the JFD Club -, the Margaret Foundation, its monthly JFD Nights events, and the White Shirts movement. Its annual studies and landmark publications include “Elles changent le monde” (2021) and “Athlètes de l’innovation, les femmes à la conquête de la tech” (2024), published by Flammarion. JFD has reached 20 million people, trained over 10,000 talented people and supported the growth of over 1,000 start-ups. https://www.joinjfd.com/
Press Contacts
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