Appointed Minister Delegate to the Minister of the Economy, Finance and Industrial, Energy and Digital Sovereignty, Anne Le Hénanff inherits the portfolio previously occupied by Clara Chappaz, then very briefly by Naïma Moutchou in the Lecornut 1 government, and becomes Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Technology. The MP for Morbihan, from the world of business and territorial digital, will have to clarify the French position between technological ambition, international dependence and industrial constraints.
A journey from agri-food to digital.
Born in Vannes, Anne Le Hénanff (57 years old) grew up in Pluvigner, graduated from EM Normandie in 1991 after an HEC preparation course at Audencia, she began her career in the agri-food industry, passing through Bacardí, Produits en Bretagne and Saupiquet, where she managed the activities of the Grand Ouest region.
In 2003, she opened an art gallery before moving into digital transformation consulting. She became a trainer and project manager at Morbihan Énergies, and taught at the University of Bretagne-Sud in the cybersecurity chair. She is also a member of the FNCCR and the National Conference of Local Public Services.
A field representative who became a digital and defense specialist
Her political involvement began in 1995. A UMP activist, she was spotted by François Goulard, then mayor of Vannes, who appointed her deputy in charge of digital and information systems in 2008. She retained this delegation until 2022, becoming first deputy in the meantime.
Close to the Horizons movement, she joined the presidential majority in 2017, while maintaining her local mandates. Elected deputy for Morbihan in 2022, then re-elected in 2024 with 71.6% of the votes, she sits on the Commission for National Defense and the Armed Forces, where she monitors cybersecurity, cyberdefense and artificial intelligence issues.
Strategic autonomy rather than sovereignty
Anne Le Hénanff has often taken a position on the question of digital sovereignty. She criticizes the political use of the term and prefers that of strategic autonomy, which she considers more adapted to industrial and geopolitical reality.
“The word sovereignty is often used as a slogan. Strategic autonomy refers to our real capacity to produce, protect and decide. »
This position, more pragmatic than doctrinaire, is part of a European vision of technological power. She pleads for continental alliances in critical areas, AI, cloud, cybersecurity, while refusing the idea of an illusory independence from the United States.
Digital regulation under constraint
In the Assembly, she defended a measured approach to technological regulation. She advocates a “ legislative frugality”, believing that the inflation of laws in the digital sector can slow down the competitiveness of the French sector.
“Regulate to protect, yes, but not to the detriment of the capacity for innovation. »
This positioning raises a recurring question in the public debate: how to reconcile the protection of citizens and the development of a still fragile national digital industry? Critics point to the risk of an unstable balance between a wait-and-see regulatory state and a market dominated by foreign platforms.
Defense artificial intelligence as a field of experimentation
Before her appointment, Anne Le Hénanff piloted a parliamentary report on defense artificial intelligenceas part of the 2025 budget.
“AI is not a gadget. It is a tool of operational superiority and strategic independence. »
It defends the idea of a continuum between civil and military innovation, while emphasizing the need to reduce dependence on American technologies.
A balance to be found between ambition and realism
The appointment of Anne Le Hénanff comes as a surprise; her detailed knowledge of the territories, her familiarity with the institutional workings and her measured approach can promote dialogue with an ecosystem which has always had very close proximity to its supervisory minister. It remains to be seen whether it will have the political time and budgetary resources necessary to initiate this relationship and develop a coherent public policy.
