On June 12, EuraTechnologies is hosting the “L'IA avec nous” summit in Lille: more than 1,000 participants, around fifty French and international speakers, and an unusual format combining expert presentations with direct dialogue with citizens. The event comes on the heels of the billions of euros in investments announced for data centers in Hauts-de-France — and that is precisely what makes it interesting: it shifts the question of sovereignty from infrastructure to adoption.
Four Pillars, One Positioning
The summit structures its discussions around four themes: moving from technology to applications, European technological sovereignty, trustworthy AI, ethics and transparency, and inclusive AI involving citizens and workers. Beneath the surface, a territorial positioning is taking shape: Hauts-de-France, a region historically marked by high unemployment but now down to 9.2%, its lowest level, is claiming the role of a European valley of applied AI — not the one that trains models, but the one that puts them to work.
France Travail Showcases Public-Sector AI
The public employment agency occupied the center of the setup, and for good reason: it is one of the few organizations able to showcase deployments at scale. Its internal assistant ChatFT claims a 94% adoption rate, and MatchFT applies algorithmic matching between candidates and job offers. “We are moving from experimentation to transformation,” sums up CEO Thibaut Guilluy, who sees AI as “a concrete lever for transforming public services.” The European dimension is not just decorative: Guilluy was elected in December 2025 as the first vice-president of the European network of public employment services, and a Franco-German AI working group, launched jointly, aims to co-develop common solutions for European employment services.
Infrastructure Does Not Create Usage
The contrast is the real substance of this summit. On one side, investment announcements measured in billions and megawatts; on the other, adoption work — training, acculturation, redefining jobs — that produces neither neat figures nor ribbon-cutting ceremonies. The program says it in its own way: a festival week from June 13 to 19 across the region, workshops and demonstrations, and a Job Connect IA & Tech forum dedicated to hiring. If the “valley of applied AI” means anything, it will be decided there: in the ability to turn data centers into jobs and uses, rather than mere energy land. The next summits will show whether the promise holds.