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Weekly digest ·

France and Spain launch public plans to close the AI gap among SMEs

The French and Spanish governments each unveiled, in the same week, publicly funded plans to speed up AI adoption by SMEs: "Impulsion IA 2027" in France and the IA360 Plan in Spain. Several studies confirm a persistent gap between large companies and SMEs, along with difficulties in governance and cost control. In the United States, large companies such as BNP Paribas and the respondents to the KPMG survey report sharply rising agentic AI adoption, still concentrated among large accounts.

Key developments

  1. Impulsion IA 2027: France commits €80 million for SMEs and employees

    Labour Minister Jean-Pierre Farandou presented "Impulsion IA 2027" on 22 September, a twelve-measure plan backed by €80 million in new funding, which aims to raise awareness of AI or train 30 million people. According to Insee, 18% of French companies with 10 or more employees used an AI technology in 2026, up from 6% in 2023, but SMEs still lag behind large companies. The plan includes a free "Explore IA" training platform, a certification with Afpa and Anssi, support for micro-businesses and SMEs through France Travail's 408 Task Force Entreprises, and an Observatory on the impact of AI on work. The CGT criticises the absence of new rights for employees.

    Sources: Maddyness, Focus RH, DAF Magazine, Le Monde Informatique

  2. IA360 Plan: Spain creates a €600 million voucher for SMEs and autónomos

    The Spanish government presented the IA360 Plan, a twelve-month roadmap that includes a €600 million Bono Inteligencia Artificial for SMEs and autónomos, excluding simple software subscriptions. The goal is to raise the AI adoption rate among Spanish companies from 21.1% to 55% by 2030, starting with a pilot of 100 SMEs in two regions and then extending to 5,000 companies in 2027. The plan also provides for a computing gigafactoría with €5 billion in funding. Experts, including the founder of Fandit, warn about the vagueness of the eligibility criteria and the risk of repeating the problems of the Kit Digital, whose waivers reached €526.6 million in 2025.

    Sources: Europa Press, MuyPymes, Merca2 (1, 2)

  3. AI adoption remains concentrated in large companies

    Several studies confirm a persistent gap by company size. According to EY, global AI adoption rose from 8% to 20% of companies between 2023 and 2025, but reaches 58% in large companies, against 29% for medium-sized companies and 17% for small ones. In Spain, the Chamber of Commerce notes that 45.3% of companies do not use AI and do not plan to do so in the short term, and that only 5.3% of those that use it have integrated it strategically. In the United States, the Philadelphia Fed reports an adoption rate of 37% among small businesses in its district, against 46% nationally.

    Sources: Brief IA, Cámara de España, Empresa Exterior, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia

  4. AI costs and governance still escape companies' control

    Several surveys point to a gap between AI adoption and its governance. According to the CESIN-OpinionWay barometer, 75% of French CISOs consider "shadow AI" risky, but only 16% of companies using AI have rolled out a strategy to manage it. An Esker survey of finance departments shows that 72% of companies overspent on AI projects over twelve months, and 65% struggle to link these uses to specific business results. At Michelin, a test of around 700 requests using GitHub Copilot's auto mode revealed cost differences ranging from 0.23 to 3.24 credits for the same task.

    Sources: Journal du Net, DAF Magazine, Le Journal des Entreprises, Silicon.fr

  5. In Spain, AI is first reducing hiring of junior profiles

    According to the 2026 Digital Talent Barometer, 51.7% of Spanish companies plan to reduce job opportunities for junior profiles as they automate operational tasks, and 83.1% of executives believe this entry-level role will disappear or be radically transformed. The study states that AI adoption translates mainly into slower hiring: 35.4% of companies are limiting new hires rather than laying off staff directly (17.1%). In France, the Ministry of Labour cites a Coface study according to which one job in six, or 5 million jobs, could be automated within three to four years.

    Sources: Business Insider España, Infobae, Brief IA

Figures of the week

  • 18 %

    share of French companies with 10 or more employees using an AI technology in 2026

    French companies with 10 or more employees

    « 18 % des sociétés de 10 salariés ou plus utilisent désormais au moins une technologie d'IA, contre 6 % en 2023. »

    Le Monde Informatique , from Insee

  • 21.1 %

    share of Spanish companies with 10 or more employees using an AI technology in the first quarter of 2025

    Spain, companies with 10 or more employees, Q1 2025

    « el 21,1% de las empresas españolas de diez o más trabajadores utilizaba alguna tecnología de inteligencia artificial en el primer trimestre de 2025 »

    La Ecuación Digital , from INE

  • 58 %

    AI adoption rate in large companies

    large organisations, according to EY

    « Les grandes organisations sont les plus avancées, avec un taux d’adoption de 58 %, contre 29 % pour les entreprises de taille moyenne et 17 % pour les petites entreprises. »

    Brief IA , from EY

  • 17 %

    AI adoption rate in small companies

    small companies, according to EY

    « Les grandes organisations sont les plus avancées, avec un taux d’adoption de 58 %, contre 29 % pour les entreprises de taille moyenne et 17 % pour les petites entreprises. »

    Brief IA , from EY

  • 37 %

    AI adoption rate among small businesses in the Third District

    Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, small businesses, autumn 2025

    « 37 percent of firms in the Third District versus 46 percent in the nation »

    Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia , from Small Business Credit Survey 2025

In France and Spain

France

Several large French companies have also announced concrete AI deployments. Michelin tested GitHub Copilot's auto mode on around 700 requests and found significant cost differences depending on the model chosen. BNP Paribas signed a five-year agreement with Google Cloud to extend Gemini to its internal LLM@CIB assistant, already used by more than 65,000 employees. Mistral AI continued its strategy of acquiring business applications with the acquisition of Pimento, following a €3 billion funding round. Dassault Aviation flight-tested two sovereign AI algorithms on the Rafale.

Sources: Silicon.fr (1, 2, 3), Unite.AI, FrenchWeb

Spain

Several large Spanish companies are also investing in AI. BBVA has created an artificial intelligence hub in Bilbao to strengthen its technology talent. Palantir, which works with around twenty large Spanish groups including Mutua Madrileña and Ferrovial, reports annual growth of over 100% for its local subsidiary. In Galicia, the use of AI in companies with ten or more employees grew by 56.5% in one year according to Osimga, while SAP, together with Indra and other partners, launched an agentic AI initiative for finance and tax.

Sources: Deia, elEconomista, Demócrata, La Voz de Galicia, PortalERP

Internationally

United States

Large US companies are accelerating agentic deployment at scale. According to the KPMG Quarterly AI Pulse Survey of 314 executives at companies with more than $1 billion in revenue, significant AI adoption by employees has risen from 10% a year ago to 44% today, and 62% of organisations are building or deploying AI agents. BNP Paribas and Google Cloud signed a five-year partnership to extend Gemini to investment banking functions. However, the effects are not all positive: Blue Cross Blue Shield estimates that hospitals' use of AI has generated $942 million in additional healthcare spending over two years, and Walmart's chief executive ruled out using AI to adjust prices according to the customer's profile.

Sources: KPMG, Unite.AI, TechCrunch, Financial Times

China

An ILO research brief, based on interviews with 21 Chinese companies and a survey of 1,591 professionals, documents notable productivity gains: an insurance company raised the number of claims processed each day by 300 employees from 6,000 to 15,000, and a large insurance group cut its recruitment cycle by 57%. The study also highlights concerns about skills and employment, with 39% of the professionals surveyed expecting a fall in their income. The dominant model remains collaboration between humans and AI rather than full automation.

Sources: Organisation internationale du travail (1, 2)

Rest of the world

In Mexico, the central bank (Banxico) reports that 48.5% of establishments with more than 100 employees used AI in June 2026, up from 24.3% in September 2025. In Argentina, 41.6% of manufacturing and IT services SMEs already use AI, but 57% of them do not measure its impact. In Colombia, 61% of companies consider AI a priority but only 37.7% have integrated it significantly. Gartner forecasts a 49.5% rise in global AI spending in 2026, while in Romania only 5% of companies have deployed AI across their organisation.

Sources: El Economista (México), Mercado, Infobae, Computerworld España, Team France Export

What's changing

Over the two weeks compared, the share of Regulation articles rose from 6% to 15%, driven by the French and Spanish government announcements. The "All sizes" category rose from 39% to 51% of articles, while the keyword "pme" doubled in relative weight (9% to 18%). The keywords "plan gouvernemental" and "gouvernance de l’ia" appear for the first time among the most frequent, alongside "espagne". The themes "productivity" and "fundraising", which dominated the previous week, fell in proportion without disappearing.

Comparison with the previous week

Method

Digest written on 6 October 2026 by an AI model (Claude Sonnet 5, by Anthropic) from the 191 articles published in the AI watch for 21 – 27 September 2026. Each paragraph links to the entries it draws on, and every number in the text was found in one of those articles before publication. The figures of the week are given with the exact sentence from the article that provides them. Digest translated from French by Claude Sonnet 5.5.

Previous weeks