15 octobre 2026Par Frédéric Russo, SVP & General Manager, Central & Southern Europe, Infor
French businesses are moving artificial intelligence decisively into everyday operations. The latest Infor Enterprise AI Adoption Index 2026 shows that 82% of businesses surveyed are already in some form of full or partial AI deployment across many, prioritized or specific business processes. Only 4% remain at the pilot stage without having moved to full deployment.
Confidence is also high: 91% of French decision-makers say their organization has the internal capability to manage an AI implementation project without disrupting core operations. Businesses already deploying AI report an average 37% increase in operational efficiency attributable to AI over the past 12 months.
The findings point to a clear market shift: French businesses are moving beyond the question of whether they are ready for AI and focusing increasingly on how to scale it effectively, with the right industry context, governance and human expertise.
Generic AI is losing ground as businesses scale As AI maturity increases, so do expectations of the technology itself. Some 76% of French respondents agree that off-the-shelf AI solutions available today do not adequately address the challenges and needs specific to their business and industry – above Germany (69%), the US (68%) and the UK (67%).
Industry context is increasingly influencing what businesses expect from AI. A quarter (25%) identify industry-specific AI use cases as one of their highest priorities when evaluating new solutions, while 28% prioritize seamless integration with existing ERP and business systems. Figure 1. France remains highly confident in AI implementation, while traditional barriers ease. Source: YouGov, France; spring and August 2026.
Confidence in autonomous agents remains particularly high. Some 73% of respondents feel mostly or very comfortable with autonomous agents executing critical business processes with safeguards and oversight, compared with 71% in the spring. For high-stakes decisions, 32% prefer an equal partnership between human and AI.
The same practical mindset is visible in solution strategy: 26% prefer a combination of in-house and purchased AI capabilities, while 28% cite a proven track record in their industry as a factor influencing confidence in a long-term AI software partner. Investment appetite meets the realities of scale Investment intentions remain strong. Some 60% of French respondents expect their overall AI investment to increase over the next 12 months. But financial predictability is a clear requirement: 92% say fixed and predictable costs are important when evaluating AI solutions.
Only 20% have a comprehensive understanding of all AI adoption and integration costs. A further 40% rely on a rough estimate, while 26% understand the upfront costs but remain uncertain about longer-term operating costs.
France enters this next phase from a position of strong data readiness: 89% of respondents believe their organization's data is mature and well-governed enough to support reliable AI.
Moving AI from pilots into day-to-day use exposes a different set of challenges. Compliance and regulatory concerns rank first at 30%, followed by lack of internal skills or expertise at 26%, unclear ROI or business outcomes at 24%, and finding the right vendor or partner at 24%.
Legacy architecture also has a measurable operational cost. Among respondents, 23% report higher integration or implementation costs as a consequence of legacy or disconnected systems, while 21% report lower trust in AI outputs due to poor data quality.
The people impact is particularly positive: 76% report that AI has had a positive effect on frontline workers in areas such as workload management, skills development or decision support, while just 3% report a negative impact.
“In France, the debate is clearly no longer about whether businesses will adopt AI, but about how they can successfully scale it and turn it into tangible value. The high levels of deployment and confidence we are seeing are now accompanied by much greater expectations: solutions that reflect the realities of each industry, integrate seamlessly with existing systems, offer predictable costs and are supported by strong governance. The ability to combine technology, industry expertise and operational control will increasingly be what sets successful AI strategies apart,” said Frédéric Russo, SVP & General Manager, Central & Southern Europe, Infor. Research methodology and data notes The analysis compares two online YouGov surveys of business decision-makers in France: 250 respondents surveyed in April 2026 and 260 respondents surveyed between 7 and 19 August 2026. Percentages are rounded. For questions allowing multiple responses, percentages may not add up to 100%.
Wave-on-wave comparisons are made only where equivalent questions were included in both survey waves. The August 2026 survey formed part of a wider study of 2,111 business decision-makers across seven markets: the UK, US, Singapore, Japan, France, Australia and Germany.
