At VivaTech in Paris, companies are pitching their visions for artificial intelligence (AI), from AI agents to workplace automation tools.
But French IT consulting firm Capgemini says the harder question now is whether companies can make AI work “at scale”.
“Not everybody will win with AI,” Pascal Brier, the group chief innovation officer of Capgemini, told Euronews Next.
Capgemini has declared 2026 its “year of truth” for AI, saying it needs to show that the technology can be scaled at the enterprise level and deliver real results.
The executive said companies were right to be excited about AI, calling it a technology that is “redefining the wider technology landscape”.
But Brier said many businesses had underestimated how long it takes to understand, implement and get results from AI.
‘Human-AI chemistry’
In January, the French IT services group announced plans to cut up to 2,400 jobs in France.
Brier said the planned cuts were not directly linked to AI and that he does not believe AI will simply replace jobs.
“AI definitely is redefining the way you do business. That’s for sure. I mean there are a lot of things that we’re going to do differently. Now, the fact that you do them differently doesn’t mean that you’re going to get rid of people to do that,” he said.
Capgemini says building enough “human-AI chemistry” or trust between people and AI systems is necessary for the technology to be used properly.
“There is no way a technology can be successful if you don’t build that trust,” he said.
The executive said fear is part of the process when new technologies enter the workplace, but that workers often become more excited once they understand what AI can help them do.
Physical AI has yet to become applicable
For physical AI, which includes robots and machines that use AI software to operate in the real world, Brier said regulation should help create a “harmonious” environment where humans and machines can work together safely.
Rules should focus first on human protection and emergency controls, including ways to stop a robot immediately if something goes wrong, he said.
“You have to have humans, machines and robots coexisting in the same environment. That’s why you need some regulations,” he said.
But Brier argued that physical AI is still at an early stage, and rules should develop gradually so the technology has room to grow.
Unlike generative AI, which arrived quickly, physical AI will take longer to spread because it involves machines operating in real workplaces, he said.
“Nobody currently is running fleets of hundreds of robots,” he said.
“Regulation should also be progressive and try to adjust to the way this technology is evolving,” he added.
For now, Brier believes the biggest value for companies will come from agentic AI, where AI systems can carry out tasks and change how operations are run inside a business.
“This is really where AI is changing the way we do operations in a company, and that’s where we’re going to derive the biggest return on investment,” he said.
‘We don’t believe in total sovereignty’
Another key issue for companies is avoiding dependence on a single AI model or provider.
Earlier this month, the US government ordered Anthropic to suspend foreign-national access to its Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models, forcing the company to disable the two models for all customers to ensure compliance.
But the Capgemini executive said sovereignty should not mean cutting Europe off from global technology.
“We don’t believe in total sovereignty, which would mean isolation,” he said.
He said companies should instead think about sovereignty as a question of business continuity and risk management.
“There are something like 1,000 models available on the market,” he said. “They are small and big models. They are open source or private. They can be European, they can be US, they can be Chinese, so you can choose.”
The goal, he said, is to avoid depending on one technology and to “always have a plan B”.
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