Welcome to our first Substack-hosted episode of the HOTSU (How Our Tools Shape Us) Podcast, where we interview people we see as conscious technologists from across various domains, continents, and cultures — about their lives, careers, and views on how technology is shaping us.
In this episode, our host Siosi (Si-O-Si) sits down with Florian Jacques, French-Belgian founder of Midstay, a corporate retreat platform that helps companies organize team retreats across more than 100 locations worldwide. Florian shares his journey from organizing a 20,000-person music festival in Belgium to getting “stuck” in Bali during 2020 — and turning that moment into a business.
Florian traces his entrepreneurial roots back to his family, describing how his father ran the festival as a side project alongside his accounting career, and how both parents are now involved in his real estate ventures in Bali, where he manages around ten villas and 25 bedrooms. His mother, an interior architect, contributes to design, making it a true family affair.
The conversation takes a fun detour into how Florian found his way into UX/UI design — not through formal ambition, but through a confiscated PlayStation. At age 14 or 15, banned from gaming, he channeled his energy into creating YouTube banners for his Call of Duty team, which sparked a lifelong passion for graphic design and eventually led him to study UX/UI and work with startups in San Francisco.
Florian explains how Midstay differentiates itself from traditional event agencies by building proprietary technology to automate the entire retreat planning process — from venue sourcing and hotel proposals to on-site coordination and activity management. With over 2,000 hotel partners in their network, Midstay offers clients exclusive rates, vetted vendors, and hundreds of hours saved. He also introduces MICE Pro, a new product that packages Midstay’s internal operating system and offers it directly to hotels to help them modernize their group bookings business.
A significant portion of the conversation focuses on human connection in the post-COVID era. Florian observes a striking paradox: younger generations are simultaneously the most connected and the loneliest in history. They crave flexibility and remote work, yet feel deeply isolated — a tension he believes makes in-person experiences more valuable than ever.
On the topic of AI, Florian takes a practical and grounded stance. Midstay uses AI to automate repetitive internal tasks — invoice reconciliation, email outreach, proposal generation — freeing the team to focus on what they do best: crafting exceptional guest experiences.
His favorite AI tool is TL;DV, which his whole team uses to capture meeting notes and better understand client expectations. He’s also a dedicated Notion user and is intrigued by its new custom AI agents and MCP integrations.
Florian closes with a vision for Midstay that’s less about revenue targets and more about a single metric: how many people they can connect each year. He believes that “physical, chemical human connection” is something AI will never be able to replicate — and that protecting that outcome is both his business strategy and his personal obligation.
Find Florian on LinkedIn at Florian Jacques or on Instagram at @floflojack. Learn more about Midstay at midstay.com.
