AI in the enterprise: state of play 2025
If you thought generative AI was still an emerging trend, the figures for 2025 will change your mind. ChatGPT is crushing the French market with a 60% share, SME adoption is exploding (+60% in one year), and your competitors are already getting ahead of themselves. But beware: this revolution is creating major divides that must be mastered.
ChatGPT's overwhelming dominance: game over for the competition?
59.2% market share for ChatGPT in France. In other words, when your employees think AI, they think OpenAI. That's 4 times more than Microsoft Copilot (14.4%) and Google Gemini (13.5%)!
This dominance is no accident. The "first-mover" effect combined with a remarkably simple interface has created a user reflex that's almost impossible to break. Your teams learned AI with ChatGPT, and they're continuing to learn with ChatGPT.
But a French surprise emerges: Mistral AI nibbles 6% of the market. Our Paris-based nugget, valued at over 2 billion euros, represents the only hope for digital sovereignty against the American giants. For a French SME, this is strategic: native RGPD compliance, data hosted in Europe, French-language support.
The verdict: diversify your tools, but integrate ChatGPT Teams into your stack. It's become as indispensable as Office was 20 years ago.
The inconvenient truth: your teams are not all equal when it comes to AI
86% of French people know about generative AI, but only 25-45% actually use it. And this average hides a brutal reality for managers.
The generational divide is exploding:
- 85% of your employees under 25 have already mastered generative AI
- Only 31% of over-35s use it
A 54-point gap that has widened by a further 17 points in one year!
What does this mean for your SME? Your young talents are already gaining 5-6 hours a week in productivity thanks to AI, while your experienced managers are losing ground. If you don't train your senior staff quickly, you're going to create an unmanageable inverted hierarchy.
Geography also counts: 59% adoption in the Île-de-France region versus 34% in rural areas. If your SME isn't based in a major metropolis, you're already at a competitive disadvantage.
French SMEs: the race to catch up is on
31% of very small businesses are now using generative AI (versus 15% last year). This represents a doubling, but is still 3 points below the European average. France is catching up, without yet dominating.
Winning sectors:
- Information-communication: 42% adoption rate (+12 points in 1 year)
- Specialized activities: 17
- Real estate: 14
Dominant uses:
- Content writing (68% of users)
- Marketing and sales (28%)
- Production processes (27%)
The French paradox: 43% of employees use AI at work, but only 9% of companies provide dedicated tools. The result? Your teams use free ChatGPT with your confidential data. So much for security...
Who your power users are (and why it matters)
Typical profile: male, 18-34 years old, university graduate, executive, Paris region. If this doesn't sound like your entire team, you've got a distribution problem.
Figures that count:
- Executives use AI 3x more than average (35% weekly)
- Average gain: 5-6 hours per week for power users
- 62% of AI-enhanced jobs require a higher education qualification
What it reveals: AI doesn't democratize work, it polarizes it. Skilled employees become supercharged, while others drop out. Your training strategy becomes crucial to avoid an internal fracture.
2024-2025: the year of industrialization
+60% of users in 2024, then +40.6% in 2025. We're no longer experimenting, we're in the midst of mass adoption.
What's new for companies:
- 52% of users are encouraged by their employer (vs. 23% last year)
- Professional use explodes: 43% use AI at work
- But 73% feel "powerless" in the face of these technologies
The moment of truth: your competitors are training their teams while you are "still thinking". How long before they take a definitive lead?
France's position: between catching up and sovereign ambition
France isn't the European leader in adoption (it's in the middle of the pack behind the Scandinavians), but it is becoming the European hub of the AI ecosystem. OpenAI, Google and Meta are setting up their R&D centers in France.
Our advantage: privileged access to the latest technologies + an "innovation-regulation balance" approach that could give us a long-term competitive edge.
The State is investing: €2.5 billion in the National AI Strategy, target 40,000-100,000 AI students/year, "Café IA" program to raise awareness among 2 million French people by 2027.
Your 3 immediate priorities
1. Train your teams (73% feel helpless)
- Focus on the 35+ age group to avoid the divide
- Internal AI champions to spread best practices
- Continuing education, not one-shot
2. Secure your data
- Stop free ChatGPT with your confidential information
- ChatGPT Teams minimum for your teams
- Clear and respected usage policy
3. Prepare your organization
- Centralized governance of AI tools
- KPIs to measure ROI right from the start
- Supporting change to avoid resistance
The Gorillias 90-day action plan
Phase 1 - Audit (10 days)
- Mapping existing uses (official and wild)
- Identifying priority use cases
- Raising awareness among executives and managers
- Competitive benchmark
Phase 2 - Pilot (15 days)
- Deployment in 1-2 départements
- Intensive training for internal champions
- Installing safety guards
- Measuring initial gains
Phase 3 - Scale (30 days)
- Gradual extension to the entire organization
- Optimizing AI-enhanced workflows
- AI culture and sharing best practices
- Continuing education plan
Real ROI: what our customers save
Marketing agency (25 people)
- +60% productivity boost for content creation
- +23% additional customer capacity
- Less stressed teams (fewer thankless tasks)
Industrial SME (80 employees)
- -70% less time spent on technical documentation
- Accelerated onboarding of new arrivals
- Automated competitive intelligence
5 fatal mistakes to avoid
- Letting it happen "in anarchy mode" → Centralized governance from J0 onwards
- Neglecting training for seniors → Increased support for the over-40s
- Aim too high from the outset → Start small, prove, then scaling
- Ignore the legal aspects → RGPD audit before deployment
- Do not measure ROI → KPIs defined at start-up
Your next step
2025 won't be the year you "think" about AI. It will be the year you deploy it, or the year your competitors take a definitive lead.
The figures are clear: 31% of French SMEs have already taken the plunge, ChatGPT dominates at 60%, and productivity gains are measurable from the very first months.
3 questions to help you decide:
- How much does inaction cost? If your competitors earn 5-6h/week and you don't...
- Will your young talent stay? 85% of under-25s have mastered AI. Without the right tools, they'll leave.
- Is your expertise enough? In 2026, we'll need expertise + AI, not expertise alone.
At Gorillias, we turn hesitators into AI leaders.
Our method: personalized audit → tailor-made strategy → support in the field until autonomy is achieved.
Guaranteed results: ROI measured within the first 3 months, or we continue free of charge.
Ready for action?
Free 30-minute AI audit - Discover your AI potential and your quick wins
Sources: IFOP-Talan 2025, Bpifrance Le Lab, INSEE 2024, Gorillias field feedback from 200+ SMEs.
