Why industry-leading perfumers chose to build the future at Osmo

Every generation of perfumers has embraced new tools. From the introduction of synthetic aroma molecules to advances in analytical chemistry, innovation has continually expanded what perfumers can create. Each breakthrough has offered new ways to understand scent, explore ideas, and bring fragrances to life while leaving the heart of the craft unchanged.

Osmo is digitizing smell, turning decades of olfactory science into new creative tools for fragrance development powered by Olfactory Intelligence. The result isn't a replacement for the perfumer's intuition or artistry. It's a new way to create with fragrance, one that combines machine learning, neuroscience, chemistry, and the expertise of master perfumers to accelerate creativity and deepen what's possible.

That vision has attracted some of the industry's most accomplished perfumers.

Not because they believe technology can replace the craft.

Because they believe it can help shape its future.

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A fragrance career built on curiosity

Long before she became a master perfumer, Zerlina Dubois wanted to be an artist.

She grew up painting, sketching, gardening, and sewing, drawn to creative expression in every form. At Smith College, she found a way to unite two passions by studying both Art and Biochemistry before earning a master's degree in Organic Chemistry.

That uncommon combination led Procter & Gamble to recruit her directly from graduate school.

Over the next three decades, Zerlina created fragrances for some of the world's most recognized beauty and personal care brands, including Pantene, Olay, Secret, Herbal Essences, Head & Shoulders, Native, and Old Spice. She also established P&G's fragrance trend forecasting program, helping identify emerging olfactory directions years before they reached the market.

For Thomas Fachon, curiosity began somewhere different.

Growing up in his grandfather's greenhouses, he developed an early connection to flowers and raw materials. After graduating from ISIPCA and the Mane Perfumery School, he spent fourteen years creating fragrances across fine fragrance, beauty, home care, and consumer goods in France, China, and the United States.

Despite their different paths, both shared something fundamental: a belief that fragrance never stops evolving.

AI & Fragrance Development 

When Zerlina first met Osmo founder Alex Wiltschko at the World Perfumery Congress in 2022, she wasn't immediately convinced.

Like many in the fragrance industry, she questioned what artificial intelligence could contribute to a discipline rooted in emotion, memory, and human creativity.

"I wasn't sure what AI would mean for perfumery & fragrance development," she says. "Like many people, I was skeptical."

Thomas had a different first impression.

"I come from the fragrance world with a passion for technology," he says. "Osmo's founder came from the tech world with a passion for scent. I thought that could be a really interesting fit."

As both learned more about Osmo, they realized the company's ambition extended well beyond building AI tools.

Osmo's mission is to digitize the sense of smell, creating new ways to understand, design, and work with fragrance while preserving the role of the perfumer at every step.

For Zerlina, another factor mattered just as much.

"The technology intrigued me," she says. "But what truly convinced me was the people."

She found a culture defined by curiosity, kindness, integrity, and a shared belief that science and creativity are strongest when they work together.

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AI that expands the creative fragrance process

Osmo Studio, the company's scent creation platform, can generate fragrance directions, suggest accords, predict olfactory characteristics, evaluate technical performance, and help navigate complex formulation decisions. Those capabilities allow perfumers to explore ideas with greater speed and confidence, while maintaining complete creative control.

For Zerlina, it has fundamentally changed the earliest stages of creation.

"Studio can generate an initial fragrance direction or starting formula in seconds," she explains. "From there, I apply my own expertise, modifying, refining, and exploring ideas more quickly than ever before."

Thomas approaches the platform with the same philosophy.

Sometimes it generates a complete starting point. Sometimes it's used to explore an accord or validate an idea. And sometimes, he chooses not to use it at all.

"The technology is a tool," he explains. "We decide when it helps us create something better."

That flexibility reflects how Osmo views the relationship between technology and expertise.

Olfactory Intelligence expands creative possibilities. Master perfumers transform those possibilities into fragrances that are emotionally resonant, technically robust, and ready for the real world.

Why it matters for brands looking to launch fragrance

For decades, creating a custom fragrance required navigating an opaque process that often took months or even years.

Osmo was built to change that.

By combining Olfactory Intelligence with the expertise of master perfumers, brands can move from creative vision to fragrance with greater transparency, collaboration, and confidence. Every formula is developed specifically for the brief, refined alongside experienced perfumers, and engineered to perform across real-world applications.

That opens the door for more brands to think about fragrance as more than a finishing touch.

It becomes part of their identity.

Just as visual design, color, and sound shape how people recognize a brand, scent is becoming another powerful way to create lasting emotional connections.

"The most powerful experiences engage all of our senses," says Zerlina.

In the years ahead, she believes signature scents will become an increasingly important expression of brand identity; connecting fragrance with storytelling, imagery, sound, and memory in ways that create richer, more immersive experiences.

Building the future of fragrance

Ask Zerlina what excites her most about joining Osmo, and her answer isn't simply the technology.

It's the opportunity to help shape what comes next.

After nearly four decades in the industry, she's now helping mentor the next generation of perfumers, sharing the principles that have guided her career while embracing entirely new creative tools.

Thomas sees the same opportunity.

"The future hasn't been written yet," he says. "Everything is still to be created."

He believes fragrance will become increasingly personal, allowing more people to design scents that reflect their own stories, identities, and experiences.

That future won't be built by technology alone.

It will be built by perfumers who combine decades of experience with new ways of creating.

That's why they came to Osmo.

Not to leave traditional fragrance behind, but to help write its next chapter.