While AI is establishing itself as a major technological lever in political and economic discourse, its integration into the fabric of French SMEs and mid-sized companies is proving more cautious. A recent survey conducted by Bpifrance Le Lab, involving over 1,200 leaders, helps to better understand the adoption dynamics at play.
According to the study "AI in French SMEs and Mid-Sized Companies: A Quiet Revolution", leaders seem to have grasped the importance of the issue: 58% of them believe AI is a matter of survival within a 3-5 year horizon. As for taking action, it is real but still hesitant: 43% of leaders have defined an AI strategy, 26% use generative AI, 16% use non-generative AI, and only 10% use both.
Among the companies that have adopted AI, half use exclusively free or ready-to-use solutions. Optimizing the existing, improving performance, maintaining competitiveness, and reducing costs are the main motivations for leaders: 94% cite at least one optimization modality, compared to only 54% a business development modality.
This gap between strategic perception and implementation reflects several challenges: lack of maturity of the offer, costs considered high, or difficulty in identifying relevant use cases.

Data, Still Underutilized as a Strategic Lever

AI relies on several essential prerequisites: company digitization, data structuring, identification of relevant use cases, and team involvement. Yet, despite a slight progression in digitization from 72% in 2017 to 76%, 43% of them still do not leverage their data to drive their business.
However, a digitized company is five times more likely to adopt AI, and those that analyze their data are 2.5 times more likely to use it.

Sectoral Disparities Revealing Structural Challenges

AI adoption varies greatly by sector, reflecting their specific technological needs and internal dynamics. Thus, ICT and finance display high adoption rates of generative AI (79% and 47% respectively), while more traditional sectors like construction (19%) or transportation (5%) lag behind.

Typology of Leaders: Between Skepticism, Experimentation, and Innovation

The study identifies four major profiles of leaders:
  • The Skeptics (27%): from less digitized sectors, opposed to AI, fearing its social impacts and not perceiving any concrete utility;
  • The Blocked (26%): aware of the stakes but paralyzed by a lack of skills or support;
  • The Experimenters (28%): curious and engaged, but hindered by financial constraints and a lack of expertise;
  • The Innovators (19%): at the forefront of digital, they integrate AI into their processes and products, with an assumed leadership.
These profiles vary by sector: skeptics dominate in construction and transportation, the blocked in commerce, experimenters in industry, and innovators in ICT, finance, and business services. There is also an overrepresentation of women among skeptics, and men among innovators.

Adoption Gaps Linked to Leader Profile

In 73% of cases, AI projects are driven by the leader. The younger and more highly educated the leader, the more advanced their company is in AI adoption. When they use GenAI in their professional daily life, the company is five times more likely to use it as well (46% versus 9%).
Leaders under 35 are thus 67% to personally use GenAI at work compared to 46% of those over 45, a percentage that drops to 36% for those over 66. The level of education is also discriminating: 62% of those with a Bac+8 use generative AI compared to only 19% of those without a diploma.

How to Accelerate AI Adoption?

To overcome these challenges, several levers are recommended:
  • Strengthen digital transformation to lay the foundation for effective adoption;
  • Structure and leverage data to identify relevant uses;
  • Train employees to remove resistance and maximize the effectiveness of AI tools;
  • Experiment with accessible solutions before investing in advanced technologies.