How a Cambridge PhD Created the Perfect Racing Algorithm That's Still Used in Formula 1 Today.
When Julian mentioned Formula 1 during our chat, I knew this podcast could easily run for three hours! What started as a discussion about AI and Amazon advertising took a fascinating turn when Julian revealed his Cambridge PhD work - developing a "virtual racing driver" that helped F1 teams test car modifications without spending millions on physical track time.
Our conversation revealed Julian's remarkable journey from technical roots to entrepreneurial success. The moment that stuck with me was his explanation of how F1 teams shifted from expensive track testing in Spain to virtual simulation (around 21:18 in our chat), where his PhD work created software that could drive an F1 car at its absolute physical limits.
Time Stamps (directly from transcript):
00:00 - Welcome and introductions
00:27 - Julian's engineering background and Cambridge PhD
01:19 - Transition from F1 to entrepreneurship via food tech
02:47 - How personal Amazon selling led to creating Autron
09:19 - Deep dive into Amazon's European marketplace
21:18 - The F1 revelation: Creating the perfect virtual driver
24:13 - Daily AI tools and practical applications
Key Moments I Loved:
- Julian's explanation of how Autron isn't just another API wrapper, but a custom-built solution from his F1 optimization experience
- His insights about Amazon's European market (Germany and UK being about 10% of US market size)
- The fascinating story of how he wrote the original Outron software for his own Amazon business before turning it into a product
- Our discussion about AI implementation in e-commerce, especially his point about turning complex data into actionable insights
