Data study ·
SMEs in 2026: AI is making progress but remains a secondary priority
Original title, in French: “SMEs 2026: AI Advances but Remains a Low Priority”
- Publication
- Brief IA (France)
- Author
- Tom Levy
- Published on
- 30 September 2026 · read in the page structured data
Summary
A survey by Crédoc and the Centre de la Relation Client, conducted among 9,655 French micro-businesses and SMEs in spring 2026, shows that AI use has tripled in two years to reach 40% in 2026 (up from 26% in 2025 and 13% in 2024), with 53% of SMEs using it, compared with 34% a year earlier. The dominant uses remain content generation, chatbots and information search. Yet AI ranks last among digital priorities (18%) for the next two years, far behind e-invoicing (39%), which became mandatory in September 2026. Digital spending fell in 2025 and business leaders' confidence in the benefits of digital technology is down 7 points, to 71%. Disparities by industry and company size persist, with micro-businesses still lagging behind.
Summary based on the full text of the article.
Read the article on Brief IA →Figures cited
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40 %
Share of French micro-businesses and SMEs using at least one AI solution in 2026
French micro-businesses and SMEs (0 to 249 employees), 2026, Crédoc/Centre de la Relation Client survey
« The reported use of at least one AI solution reached 40% in 2026, up from 26% in 2025 and 13% in 2024, marking a tripling in two years. »
Source: Crédoc et Centre de la Relation Client
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53 %
Share of SMEs using at least one AI solution, year on year
French SMEs, 2026, compared with 34% a year earlier
« Among SMEs, the proportion rose from 34% to 53% in one year, while the exact rate for micro businesses is not published and remains below average. »
Source: Crédoc et Centre de la Relation Client
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33 %
Share of micro-businesses that invested nothing in digital in 2025 (excluding training and recruitment)
French micro-businesses, 2025
« In 2025, 33% of micro and small businesses did not spend anything on digital outside of training and recruitment, an increase of 8 points. »
Source: Crédoc et Centre de la Relation Client
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78 %
Share of companies with digital projects for 2026-2027
French micro-businesses and SMEs, 2026
« Despite this context, 78% report having digital projects for 2026 and 2027. »
Source: Crédoc et Centre de la Relation Client
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18 %
Ranking of AI among companies' digital priorities for the next two years
French micro-businesses and SMEs, 2026
« Artificial intelligence ranks last among priorities, at 18% (-1 point) for the next two years. »
Source: Crédoc et Centre de la Relation Client
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19 %
Share of companies using a paid AI solution
French micro-businesses and SMEs, 2026; 32% among SMEs
« Additionally, 19% of businesses use a paid AI solution, a proportion that rises to 32% among SMEs. »
Source: Crédoc et Centre de la Relation Client
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68 %
Share of AI users who consider its impact positive
Companies using AI, France, 2026
« Among AI users, 68% view the impact positively, and this figure reaches 84% among those who pay for their tools; the barometer notes an association between payment and positive judgment, without establishing a causal link. »
Source: Crédoc et Centre de la Relation Client
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72 %
Share of companies in the digital industry using AI, compared with the agricultural industry
Digital industry, France, 2026, compared with 18% in agriculture
« Sectoral disparities persist, with 72% of users in digital and 18% in agriculture, where the share has doubled in one year. »
Source: Crédoc et Centre de la Relation Client
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71 %
Share of business leaders who consider that digital technology brings real benefits to their company
Leaders of French micro-businesses and SMEs, 2026
« The share of leaders who believe that digital brings real benefits to their business stands at 71%, down 7 points from 2025. »
Source: Crédoc et Centre de la Relation Client
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9,655 companies
Number of companies surveyed
French companies with 0 to 249 employees, spring 2026
« The survey was conducted by Crédoc and the Customer Relations Center. It covers 9,655 businesses with 0 to 249 employees, including 2,869 SMEs and 6,786 micro businesses, with 799 structures having no employees. »
Source: Crédoc et Centre de la Relation Client
Classification
- Country
- France
- Company size
- Micro-businesses, SMEs
- Industries
- All industries, or industry not specified · Agriculture and food production · Software vendors, IT services companies, telecoms · Transport, logistics, supply chain
- Companies
- Centre de la Relation Client (study author), Ipsos (cited), Crédoc (study author)
- Keywords
- ai adoption, sme, micro-businesses, e-invoicing, content generation, cybersecurity
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 Brief IA and its author. Entry translated from French by Claude Sonnet 5.5.