Facing AI, French Companies Confront Organizational Hurdles, Survey Shows

A survey conducted by Kéa and OpinionWay among 802 French executives, two years after the explosion of generative AI, shows that while 61% of leaders consider AI a major transformation issue (rising to 93% in companies with over 250 employees), only 28% believe it requires a complete organizational overhaul. Large companies are ahead: 66% of their leaders see the need for a global refit, and a majority think AI challenges their business model, whereas French leaders overall still view it mainly as a tool to improve existing processes. Deployments remain experimental: only 16% of organizations have several large-scale use cases or a structured AI project portfolio, while a third are still at the exploration stage. Governance lags: 75% of companies have no Chief Data Officer or AI-dedicated manager, 60% have not assessed dependence on AI technology suppliers or lack protocols for handling erroneous AI-assisted decisions, and 51% have not defined 'red lines' for AI use in certain roles or applications. Performance tracking is weak: less than a third of leaders have evaluated benefits from AI projects, and only 10% have advanced steering tools like dedicated dashboards or integration into financial models. The main barriers are now organizational and human: lack of talent (42%), insufficient data quality (40%), and limited managerial time (38%), with these challenges more acute in large companies (60% cite talent shortage, 54% skill unavailability).