Matthieu Heslouin, Chief Digital Officer at Bpifrance, and Lionel Chaine, CIO at BPIfrance at the Adopt AI Summit – Bank or fintech, how is AI changing things?

Over the past five years, Bpifrance has evolved from a traditional investment bank into a fintech company. This shift is driven by the need to enhance productivity, streamline operations, and support the French enterprise ecosystem through advanced data management and AI technologies. This began with a data-centric approach, emphasizing the importance of data in decision-making processes related to investing and financing. Bpifrance’s substantial investments in creating a robust data infrastructure have laid the groundwork for integrating AI into its operations, marking a pivotal step in their evolution.

Bpifrance’s AI strategy is built on four key pillars.

Firstly, they promoted the adoption of secure AI tools across the organization, starting with a compliant and secure chatbot used by all employees.

Secondly, Bpifrance aims to embed AI into all the tools used daily within the company. By partnering with software providers and integrating their AI features.

Thirdly, Bpifrance focuses on managing and leveraging data in-house, shifting from public data sources to developing internal data management capabilities. This involves using advanced techniques like graph data processing to improve data quality and reduce errors.

Lastly, training teams to effectively use and manage data is crucial, with significant investments in building internal teams capable of developing and maintaining the necessary infrastructure.

Bpifrance aims to drive AI adoption across French businesses, enhancing efficiency through AI-driven tools in productivity, decision-making, and customer support. Bpifrance wants to be the principal VC and private equity player in Europe. Bpifrance pushes the companies it invests in to embrace AI and heavily supports small and medium enterprises in France. This support includes assessing their AI maturity and guiding them on their AI journey. One of Bpifrance’s key goals is to establish France as a leading AI ecosystem in Europe, potentially ranking third globally after the US and China. This involves transforming their operations and influencing the broader business landscape in France.

“AI is a major stake for us as it helps improve business efficiency and supports the transition of our portfolio companies towards more innovative and sustainable practices.”

Matthieu Heslouin, Chief Digital Officer at Bpifrance

Looking forward, the company faces challenges related to scaling AI solutions and maintaining compliance. The next steps involve addressing these issues and determining the optimal level of investment required to make AI models efficient and effective. There is a strategic debate on whether AI should primarily enhance existing processes or fundamentally disrupt the bank and investment company’s traditional operations. The collaboration between the digital and IT departments has been critical, building strong open innovation programs to enable pilot projects and proofs of concept across various business areas. Leveraging partnerships with incumbent software providers, Bpifrance integrates AI capabilities into its systems and tests these new features extensively. This collaborative approach ensures that the organization stays at the forefront of technological advancements.