Geoffrey De Smet, creator of OptaPlanner and now Timefold.ai, shares how IBM’s acquisition of Red Hat forced him to turn his open-source project into a company. He explains why ChatGPT can’t solve real-world scheduling, what makes heuristic AI different, and how Timefold is saving companies millions of hours through smarter planning.Chapters00:00 – Introduction01:00 – Origins of OptaPlanner03:00 – The First Breakthrough05:00 – Red Hat & The Open Source Journey07:00 – IBM Acquires Red Hat10:00 – Becoming a Founder13:00 – Finding a Co-Founder15:00 – Why ChatGPT Can’t Do Scheduling17:00 – The Math Behind the Madness19:00 – How Timefold Solves Real Problems21:00 – AI Hype Cycles23:00 – Saving Hours and Dollars26:00 – “Would You Rather”29:00 – Closing
