Data study ·
2026 ranking of IT services companies (ESN) and ICT firms: AI is starting to reshuffle the deck… but not revenue or the ranking!
Original title, in French: “Classement ESN & ICT 2026 : l’IA commence à rebattre les cartes… mais ni le chiffre d’affaires, ni le classement !”
- Publication
- IT for Business (France)
- Author
- Laurent Delattre
- Published on
- 7 October 2026 · read in the page structured data
Summary
The Numeum and KPMG report "Grand Angle ESN & ICT 2026", published alongside the annual ranking of French IT services companies (ESN), shows that generative and agentic AI is profoundly transforming the industry. According to the study, 58% of executives expect AI to have a strong or disruptive impact on their business model, with clients asking for more productivity gains (75%) and more advisory support (62%). The daily-rate billing model is being challenged: two in three ESN are already moving their pricing towards subscription, value-based or success-based billing. AI monetisation remains modest (7% of revenue on average), but three-year ambitions aim for 18%. Internally, 37% of ESN report productivity gains of more than 20% in delivery thanks to AI. Junior recruitment is declining (22% report a sharp fall), in favour of hybrid profiles and critical thinking. In the ranking, Capgemini remains the leader despite a decline, while SCC and IBM France make strong progress.
Summary based on the full text of the article.
Read the article on IT for Business →Figures cited
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58 %
share of ESN executives expecting a strong or disruptive impact of generative and agentic AI on their business model
ESN and ICT firms surveyed, France, 2026
« 58 % des dirigeants interrogés s’attendent à un impact « fort ou disruptif » de l’IA générative et agentique sur leur business model. »
Source: Grand Angle ESN & ICT 2026, Numeum-KPMG
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68 %
share of SMEs and micro-businesses in the industry expecting a significant overhaul of their offering due to AI
SMEs and micro-businesses in the ESN industry, France, 2026
« 68 % des PME et TPE anticipent une refonte significative de leur offre, contre 52 % des grandes entreprises et ETI. »
Source: Grand Angle ESN & ICT 2026, Numeum-KPMG
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52 %
share of large companies and mid-sized companies in the industry expecting a significant overhaul of their offering due to AI
large companies and mid-sized companies in the ESN industry, France, 2026
« 68 % des PME et TPE anticipent une refonte significative de leur offre, contre 52 % des grandes entreprises et ETI. »
Source: Grand Angle ESN & ICT 2026, Numeum-KPMG
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75 %
share of respondents whose clients are asking for productivity gains through AI tools
ESN and ICT executives, France, 2026
« Trois répondants sur quatre (75 %) voient leurs clients réclamer des gains de productivité grâce aux outils d’IA »
Source: Grand Angle ESN & ICT 2026, Numeum-KPMG
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62 %
share of respondents seeing growing advisory needs ahead of AI projects
ESN and ICT executives, France, 2026
« 62 % constatent une montée des besoins de conseil en amont des projets »
Source: Grand Angle ESN & ICT 2026, Numeum-KPMG
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66.6 %
share of ESN and ICT firms already changing their pricing
ESN and ICT firms, France, 2026
« deux ESN/ICT sur trois affirment déjà faire évoluer leur pricing »
Source: Grand Angle ESN & ICT 2026, Numeum-KPMG
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37 %
share of executives seeing billing based on value created as the most likely short-term change
ESN and ICT executives, France, 2026
« 37 % des dirigeants voient justement dans la facturation à la valeur créée, l’évolution la plus probable à court terme. »
Source: Grand Angle ESN & ICT 2026, Numeum-KPMG
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80 %
share of respondents naming low-cost AI-native players as the main threat to their value chain
ESN and ICT firms, France, 2026
« 80 % des répondants pointent les nouveaux acteurs « AI-native » à bas coût comme le principal danger pour leur chaîne de valeur »
Source: Grand Angle ESN & ICT 2026, Numeum-KPMG
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7 %
average share of ESN and ICT revenue generated by AI monetisation
ESN and ICT firms, France, 2026, on average (compared with 5% last year)
« Elle pèse en moyenne 7 % du chiffre d’affaires des ESN et ICT (contre 5 % l’an dernier). »
Source: Grand Angle ESN & ICT 2026, Numeum-KPMG
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18 %
average share of revenue targeted from AI monetisation within three years
ESN and ICT firms, France, three-year ambitions, 2026
« les ambitions à trois ans sont d’une tout autre ampleur : 18 % du chiffre d’affaires en moyenne »
Source: Grand Angle ESN & ICT 2026, Numeum-KPMG
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19 %
share of large companies and mid-sized companies with industrialised AI offerings at scale
large companies and mid-sized companies in the ESN industry, France, 2026
« Chez les grandes entreprises et ETI, 46 % ont des offres IA en production et 19 % les ont industrialisées à l’échelle. »
Source: Grand Angle ESN & ICT 2026, Numeum-KPMG
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74 %
share of SMEs and micro-businesses in the industry still at the exploration or pilot stage with AI
SMEs and micro-businesses in the ESN industry, France, 2026
« Chez les PME et TPE, 74 % en sont encore à l’exploration ou au pilote. »
Source: Grand Angle ESN & ICT 2026, Numeum-KPMG
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37 %
share of ESN and ICT firms reporting productivity gains of more than 20% in delivery thanks to AI
ESN and ICT firms, France, 2026
« 37 % des ESN et ICT annoncent désormais des gains de productivité supérieurs à 20 % sur leur delivery grâce à l’IA. »
Source: Grand Angle ESN & ICT 2026, Numeum-KPMG
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62 %
share of ESN and ICT firms for which AI is already affecting recruitment
ESN and ICT firms, France, 2026
« Pour 62 % des ESN et ICT, l’IA pèse déjà sur les recrutements, avec une sélectivité accrue et 47 % d’acteurs qui exigent une maîtrise de l’IA dès le début de carrière. »
Source: Grand Angle ESN & ICT 2026, Numeum-KPMG
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22 %
share of respondents seeing a sharp fall in junior recruitment
ESN and ICT firms, France, 2026
« 22 % des répondants voient le recrutement des juniors en forte baisse, contre 9 % en hausse »
Source: Grand Angle ESN & ICT 2026, Numeum-KPMG
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39 %
share of respondents citing critical thinking as the most sought-after skill in the face of AI
ESN and ICT firms, France, 2026
« 39 % citent l’esprit critique et la capacité à valider les résultats produits par l’IA. »
Source: Grand Angle ESN & ICT 2026, Numeum-KPMG
Classification
- Country
- France
- Company size
- SMEs, Mid-sized companies, Large companies
- Industries
- Software vendors, IT services companies, telecoms
- Companies
- OVHCloud (cited), Sopra Steria (cited), KPMG (study author), SCC France (cited), Numeum (study author), Inetum (cited), Bechtle Holding France (cited), IBM France (cited), Capgemini (cited), Magellan (cited), Accenture (cited), Atos (cited)
- Keywords
- ESN, business model, value-based billing, junior recruitment, AI productivity, Numeum KPMG ranking
Entry written by Marsanne Studio from the cited article, with the help of an AI model (claude-sonnet-5). The rights to the article and its illustrations belong to IT for Business and its author. Entry translated from French by Claude Sonnet 5.5.