According to TrustInSoft, its mission is to enable everyone to benefit from the most secure and safest software possible. To deliver on that ambition the company, a software publisher with offices in Paris and San Francisco, provides companies with a software code analysis tool that guarantees the security and safety of their source code using formal methods.
The company’s Analyzer tool provides ‘exhaustive test coverage’ and can identify all bugs, resulting in no false negatives and no false positives, which means that each bug is real and therefore will need to be corrected.
The tool uses a series of formal methods to mathematically model code, which allows users to obtain a mathematical proof that there are no bugs left once all issues have been detected by TrustInSoft Analyzer and have been corrected.
Appointed to the role of CEO back in January 2024 Caroline Guillaume took over from the company’s founder Fabrice Derepras, who stepped back to become TrustInSoft’s Chief Evangelist, focusing on strategic growth initiatives.
For Guillaume it was a transition from her role as COO to CEO and came at a time when the software analysis tools market was facing challenges around the growing volume of software being deployed, its cost and complexity as it takes on more functionality. But there were also significant opportunities.
TrustInSoft was a spin-out from CEA, the French research organisation, where the original research into the development of safer and more secure software development had been commissioned.
“The founders of the business were conducting applied research into the development of software for critical infrastructure and embedded systems,” explained Guillaume. “They were working with companies from across the aerospace and nuclear power sectors where you really don’t want your software to have any errors. But as software becomes more complex so the challenges associated with reliability increase, and so too does the volume of software testing that’s necessary.
“The team were able to develop tools that ensured high standards but also delivered significant improvements in productivity. The prototype software that was developed was reliable, significantly faster but was also safe to use in these critical industries and could also address growing cybersecurity issues – that was the prototype of what was to eventually become TrustInSoft Analyzer.”
It was at the conclusion of their research that the team realised that their solution could be used across a much broader range of sectors to improve the quality of software and that, in turn, led to the foundation of TrustInSoft.
Extending its reach
The company was set up in 2013, and the following 4-5 years were spent working to commercialise what had been a very successful prototype for a few select companies.
“The tool is unique and the formal methods on which it is based are complex, it’s a combination of computer science and mathematics. The challenge was to create a product out of the prototype and to apply it to industries beyond those deemed critical – e.g. consumer and automotive,” said Guillaume. “Our first commercial wins actually came from the mobile space and with games consoles,”
Guillaume makes the point that there are two extremes when it comes to embedded systems. At one end of the spectrum there is critical embedded software that will be used in aerospace and space, for example, and at the other consumer electronics.
“At one extreme you have engineers developing product over decades and who have to work with detailed processes, while at the other you have engineers issuing product every few months and having to operate in a very agile way.”
For the company that engagement with the consumer sector and the realisation that they could help a broader range of industries, and that their solution was a good fit both in terms of results and the development process, was crucial.
“That success helped to convince the founders, as much as their customers, that what they were doing was valuable,” suggested Guillaume.
Consequently, the company embarked on its commercial development and saw its first rounds of investment.
“It also started to recruit externally. They were looking for different profiles - not just pure engineers, formal method experts or mathematicians - and that’s where I came in. My role was to develop sales, market the business and grow the organisation.”
Guillaume’s background is in telecommunications and engineering.
“I started with technical roles and then moved to product management, marketing and then sales. I had a lot of experience in managing large sales teams in the software environment and at an international level,” explained Guillaume. “My decision to move to TrustInSoft was driven by the uniqueness of the technology. I was intrigued at how a small French company was attracting such impressive customers worldwide and I suppose that was the main appeal of the role.
“The founders’ personalities and attitude were also very attractive to me,” Guillaume added. “The culture is one that’s built around excellence and accuracy, as well as the soundness of the tool. In the work we do you can’t miss errors. Everything is about high standards, and that permeates throughout the company.”
Guillaume was asked to take over as CEO by the founders and had the unanimous support of the board.
“We have a huge opportunity for growth with this product. What we are seeing in the market is the need for more complex software. Safety and security are becoming critical across more industries and that requires robust forms of testing. Companies are far more aware of the costs associated with software that fails but at the same time they are concerned at just how demanding and expensive testing can be.
“Our tool is truly unique, and we’ve been able to demonstrate that TrustInSoft Analyzer can deliver better verification coverage and uncover and eliminate more errors when compared with using standard V&V procedures for safety-critical software. In some cases, we’ve been able to cut testing costs by as much as 75%, despite doing all the necessary tests.”
As for the future Guillaume outlined a number of challenges for the business going forward.
“Out product is producing excellent results. It boosts test coverage and speed while achieving up to 100% code coverage so we can ensure software quality, robustness, security, and safety. As an example, in the US we were in talks with a national laboratory who’d been using the Analyzer and ours was the only static analyser to identify all bugs. The results are impressive, and the quality of those results is exceptional – but we need to continuously improve the user experience, so our focus now is on greater automation and integration.
“I also want to see further growth internationally, even though over 50 percent of our sales come from outside Europe. I want to build on the strong presence we have in the US. And finally, I want to see further engagement with the automotive industry.”
According to Guillaume, the company will look to target specific sectors and new software languages will be addressed.
“Apart from automation and integration, which are going to be critical to the business going forward,” said Guillaume, “we’ll be taking a step-by-step approach and looking to address and adapt to changing processes and compliance requirements.
“Analyzer will continue to evolve, and the user experience will be improved and enhanced. But whatever we do quality will remain at the heart of TrustInSoft’s Analyzer – safety and security will remain paramount.”
