France has appointed its first-ever artificial intelligence (AI) minister amid political upheaval and the country’s quest to become a world leader in technology.

Clara Chappaz, CEO of government startup La French Tech, will take over as Secretary of State for Artificial Intelligence and Digitalization.

“I’m excited to continue my commitment to community engagement on important topics like digital technology and artificial intelligence,” she said in a LinkedIn post on Sunday.

The post, which has not previously featured artificial intelligence in its title, underlines France’s desire to take a leading position in technology and meet President Emmanuel Macron’s ambitions to turn Paris into an “artificial intelligence city”. In February, France will also host the International Summit on Artificial Intelligence, after the previous two – in Great Britain and Seoul. And last year, France published a national AI strategy, according to which €500 million will be invested in the creation of AI clusters by 2030.

Between the dissolution of France’s National Assembly in early June and the appointment of Michel Barnier as prime minister earlier this month, the tech ecosystem has remained in a state of uncertainty over who will become the next digital minister.

The 35-year-old Shappaz will report to the Ministry of Higher Education and Research, not the Ministry of Economy and Finance, like her predecessor. She has an impressive track record as director of La French Tech, and in her three years in the role, Chappaz created a non-binding parity pact that has been signed by over 700 startups to date. It sets a minimum quota of 20 percent women on boards of directors by 2025 and requires all executives to receive anti-discrimination and anti-harassment training.

Prior to her appointment at La French Tech, she served as the Business Director of luxury clothing site Vestiaire Collective and founded the children’s clothing marketplace Lullaby. Karla Shappaz is also a graduate of Harvard Business School.