The number: 94% of companies use AI only to optimize what exists, almost none to create new revenue

Among French SMEs and mid-market firms that have adopted AI, 94% use it to optimize what already exists: cutting costs, speeding up tasks, making a process more reliable. Almost none use it to open a new activity or win a new market. This betrays a defensive reflex: AI is used to do more cheaply what was already done, rarely to do what was not being done at all. The real risk is not losing money; it is leaving the biggest gain on the table while a competitor turns the freed-up capacity into a new offering.

For any SME or mid-market company, the rule is simple: on every AI project, set two distinct, measured targets, one for cost and one for revenue, and refuse to close the project while the revenue line stays empty.

Source: Bpifrance Le Lab, "AI in French SMEs and mid-market companies: a quiet revolution," June 2025 (1,209 executives).