a survey reveals that four out of ten French companies have not yet done anything to integrate it into their activity

One in 10 companies do not plan to integrate AI into their business at all, according to a study revealed by France Inter. A dangerous reluctance, warns an expert who assesses the risks of falling too far behind foreign competition.

They are convinced of it: 93% of French business leaders believe that Generative Artificial Intelligence (AGI) will transform their company’s activity. Yet 39% have yet to do anything to integrate it. This is what shows a survey carried out by OpinionWay and the Dékuple group revealed by France Inter on Thursday May 30.

According to this study, while generative artificial intelligence, capable of creating content, is seen as a real revolution by these companies, few of them are really active on the subject and investments are not taking off. More than six in ten companies (62%) have at least initiated tests of generative artificial intelligence (GAI) and a third (33%) are developing it or have already fully integrated it.

Two thirds of these companies (64%) having integrated Generative Artificial Intelligence took the plunge more than a year ago. For the others, six in 10 (60%) plan to integrate AGI over the next two years, while one in 10 does not plan to do so at all. More generally, 92% of companies have integrated or plan to integrate IAG. More than half (56%) will do so in the next two years and 30% from 2026.

AGI requires many investments that companies must take into account. According to the study, almost half of companies (48%) plan to spend five million euros or more on AGI integration. 21% plan to invest 10 million or more. If the agriculture, industry and construction sectors particularly intend to invest in this area (32% of them), on the other hand, the services sector is further behind, with 12% of companies thinking about it . An investment which should allow a productivity gain of at least 20% according to six out of 10 companies (61%). The agriculture/industry/construction sectors have higher expectations of around 50% minimum.

The survey further highlights that the vast majority of companies, nine out of 10, train their employees in the use of IAG, primarily management teams (92%). And eight in 10 companies (82%) plan to make hires thanks to the integration of AGI, including a third who have already done so. The study makes another observation: very large companies, where standards and procedures are more onerous than elsewhere, are the slowest to integrate Generative Artificial Intelligence. A third have not yet planned to train their employees.

Jacques Pommeraud, CEO of digital services group Inetum, warns companies not to fall behind. “If you are a pharmaceutical laboratory, you will have foreign competitors who will develop new molecules in less time than you,” he warns. Jacques Pommeraud further warns IT players who will have “foreign competitors who will offer prices 15% lower than yours”. “The risk”, for latecomer companies, “is to be downgraded by much more efficient, cheaper and better quality products”adds Jacques Pommeraud.

The survey by OpinionWay and the Dékuple group was carried out from April 12 to 26, 2024 among 300 decision-makers and members of the executive committee in companies with more than 250 employees in France on a representative sample, questioned by a self-administered questionnaire online.