Environment and digital: an imposed, rather than chosen, transformation for French companies

If 31% of French SMEs and ETIs perceive a strategic interest in combining environmental issues and AI, the majority of companies – 69% – do not see a clear economic benefit. This figure, from the first FITT Observatory, reveals a little-discussed reality: ecological and digital transformation remains more of a constraint imposed by standards a real lever of competitiveness.

The absence of perceived value, an economic obstacle

The study, carried out by OpinionWay for FITT, highlights an often overlooked observation: for the majority of companies, integrating the environment into the AI/digital transformation does not bring a direct and measurable economic impact. If certain initiatives emerge (traceability, data collection), they are more often driven by regulatory obligations (like the CSRD) only through a logic of value creation.

• 31% of companies declare a strategic interest, but this figure hides another reality: only 6% truly structure environmental actions with economic ambition.
• On the digital/AI side, 10% reach this stage, a modest progress but which remains disconnected from the environment.

The environment today is seen more as a cost than an opportunity.

Transformations driven by standards, not by the market

The companies surveyed place normative constraints at the heart of their thoughts:

• There CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) imposes rigorous extra-financial reporting, directing companies towards more responsible practices.
• Other regulations such as European Green Deal (Green Deal) create a strict framework which imposes investments often considered to be non-priority.

➡️ In this context, companies comply, but struggle to see tangible economic benefits : the reduction in costs or improvement in profitability does not appear sufficiently obvious to justify proactive investments.

The bias of “short-termism”: an incomplete reading

The study suggests that corporate inertia can be explained by a vision short-termist. However, this interpretation obscures a central point: the absence of immediate economic returns on environmental investments, coupled with a priority given to more pressing issues (inflation, margins, competitiveness).

“Companies are not short-termists, they are realistic. They prioritize what generates value today,” underlines a sector expert.

For the managers interviewed:

• The benefits linked to the environment and AI still remain hypothetical or indirect.
• The convergence of the two subjects remains costly, technical, and requires skills that are still rare.

Competitiveness driven by regulation, not innovation

Unlike other European economies, where the environment and AI are seen as innovation levers (Germany, Nordic countries), French SMEs and ETIs evolve in a logic defensive and normative. The norm precedes the action, without the market spontaneously triggering the dynamic.

• Consequence: Businesses comply to avoid sanctions rather than to anticipate gains.
• Risk : This minimal approach could slow down innovation and maintain a competitive gap in markets where the environment and technology generate new business models.

The FITT Observatory highlights a brutal fact: Environment x AI alignment does not appear, for 69% of French companies, as a natural vector of economic value. The main driver of transformation remains normative pressureto the detriment of a proactive dynamic. If this approach secures compliance, it could ultimately slow down innovation and deprive companies of essential growth levers in the face of international competition.

The FITT Environment & AI Observatory was carried out with OpinionWay in April-May 2024, based on online interviews administered to 300 decision-makers (100 managers, CEO, DG, DGA; 100 CDO, DSI, digital or IA directors, and 100 CSR directors) French companies with 50 or more employees, SMEs and ETIs, representatively, in terms of sector of activity and size of the company, in France whole.