Opinion ·
To stay competitive, Europe must make AI execution its priority
Original title, in French: “Pour rester compétitive, l'Europe doit faire de l'exécution IA sa priorité”
- Publication
- Journal du Net (France)
- Author
- Jessyn Katchera
- Published on
- 7 October 2026 · read in the page structured data
Summary
This opinion piece argues that Europe's AI competitiveness gap is not due to models or budgets, but to the way organisations transform themselves. It cites Arthur Mensch (Mistral AI), who estimates at 1,000 billion euros a year the trade deficit that AI could create in Europe if it remains a consumer of technology produced elsewhere. According to the European Investment Bank, only a quarter of French companies had used generative AI tools in 2025, compared with an average of 37% in Europe. The author identifies three decisions common to successful deployments: choosing specific areas rather than generalising, codifying data and processes, and building measurement in from the design stage, a lesson drawn from an analysis of 415 executives at large global companies. The article also discusses the shift from assistant AI to agentic AI, which turns employees' roles into those of agent managers.
Summary based on the full text of the article.
Read the article on Journal du Net →Figures cited
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1,000 billion EUR
Potential annual trade deficit for Europe if it remains a consumer of AI produced elsewhere
Europe, estimate cited at a hearing in May at the Assemblée nationale
« Arthur Mensch, cofondateur de Mistral AI, chiffrait à 1 000 milliards d'euros par an le déficit commercial potentiel que l'IA pourrait creuser en Europe – si le continent reste consommateur d'une technologie produite ailleurs. »
Source: Arthur Mensch, Mistral AI (audition commission d'enquête Assemblée nationale)
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25 %
Share of French companies that used generative AI tools in 2025
France, 2025
« En France, en 2025, seul un quart des entreprises avait utilisé des outils d'IA générative, contre 37 % en moyenne en Europe, selon la Banque européenne d'investissement. »
Source: Banque européenne d'investissement
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37 %
Average share of European companies that used generative AI tools in 2025
Europe, average, 2025
« En France, en 2025, seul un quart des entreprises avait utilisé des outils d'IA générative, contre 37 % en moyenne en Europe, selon la Banque européenne d'investissement. »
Source: Banque européenne d'investissement
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415 executives
Number of executives at large global companies surveyed in the cited analysis
large global companies
« C'est l'un des enseignements tirés de l’analyse faite auprès de 415 dirigeants de grandes entreprises mondiales. »
Classification
- Country
- France
- Company size
- Large companies, All sizes
- Industries
- All industries, or industry not specified
- Companies
- Banque européenne d'investissement (study author), Mistral AI (cited)
- Keywords
- ai execution, generative ai adoption, agentic ai, organisational transformation, european lag, productivity
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 Journal du Net and its author. Entry translated from French by Claude Sonnet 5.5.