TLDR : Data streaming, once considered a niche technology, is now a strategic pillar for French companies, improving data governance and AI management. Despite some adoption barriers, like data fragmentation and skill shortages, data streaming is seen as a promising solution for optimizing real-time data access and accelerating AI industrialization.
Table of contents
Long perceived as a niche technology, data streaming is now establishing itself in France as a key element of companies' digital strategies. According to the Data Streaming Report 2025 published by Confluent, the perception of data streaming is evolving: it is no longer just a promise of innovation, but an essential lever for addressing two major challenges: data governance and AI management.
A Foundation for Industrializing AI
If 79% of French decision-makers now demand seamless integration between AI/ML and streaming platforms, it's because they clearly perceive the stakes: without real-time, contextualized, and governed data, AI struggles to deliver actionable results. However, only 35% of respondents in France consider feeding AI systems with continuous data as a key lever of streaming, compared to 87% globally. A significant gap that raises questions: is it a cultural lag in adopting the real-time logic, or a methodological caution dictated by infrastructure and governance constraints?
While 93.5% of French decision-makers identify at least one major barrier to AI adoption: data fragmentation, skill shortages, quality issues, data streaming emerges as a promising solution to streamline data access and accelerate AI industrialization.
Globally, decision-makers believe it improves customer experience (95%), risk management (92%), automation (91%), and product innovation (90%). IT leaders place data streaming among their strategic priorities at 86% (84% in France), behind security (94%) but ahead of AI/ML (83%).
Govern the Complexity: Streaming as an Architectural Lever
Beyond AI, the IT architecture itself becomes the field of experimentation. In a landscape marked by system stacking and technical debt, streaming platforms are seen as simplification mechanisms. However, in France, only 51% of companies have integrated this technology into critical systems, compared to 60% globally.
According to Confluent, this more cautious adoption reflects a market evolving towards progressive industrialization, centered on efficiency.
Profitability, Budget, and Trade-offs: Streaming as a Response to Constraints
Data is no longer just a strategic raw material, but an economic asset whose profitability is becoming a central criterion. In a French context marked by the reduction of public support mechanisms for innovation like the Research Tax Credit and pressure on IT budgets, streaming emerges as a pragmatic response: 38% of French companies report having achieved an ROI of at least five times their investment, a figure that is growing though still below the global average (44%).
The 'shift left' logic, which involves anticipating governance and data quality issues from the early phases of the lifecycle, appeals almost unanimously to French decision-makers (98.5%).
Niki Hubaut, Country Leader France at Confluent, concludes:
"What we observe in France is a rapid evolution in the perception of data streaming. Long seen as an innovative technology, it is now becoming a foundation of resilience and performance for French companies. In an increasingly fragmented digital landscape, streaming platforms play a key role in ensuring data quality, accessibility, and governance, essential prerequisites for making AI a truly operational lever."
To better understand
What are the main technical challenges associated with integrating data streaming platforms into existing IT systems?
Challenges include managing latency, ensuring interoperability between heterogeneous systems, and needing a robust infrastructure to handle real-time data flow without disrupting existing systems.
How do European data protection regulations influence the adoption of data streaming in France?
Regulations such as GDPR impose strict constraints on the management of personal data, complicating the implementation of streaming systems that require rigorous data protection compliance.