VivaTech 2025 to showcase leadership and startups boosting AI across Europe

VivaTech 2025, Europe’s largest technology and innovation event, takes place June 11-14 in Paris, featuring 160,000 delegates and high-profile speakers including Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Meta‘s Chief AI Scientist Yann LeCun. The event highlights a critical leadership gap in corporate AI strategy, with Forrester research showing that technology teams—rather than business leaders—are driving AI initiatives in over two-thirds of organizations.

What you should know: VivaTech has evolved into a massive showcase for technology innovation since its 2016 debut, bringing together 13,000+ startups and 3,000+ investors at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles.

• This year’s speaker lineup includes Jensen Huang (Nvidia CEO), Joe Tsai (Alibaba Co-founder), Arthur Mensch (Mistral AI CEO), Yann LeCun (Meta), Mike Krieger (Anthropic), and Thomas Dohmke (GitHub CEO).
• CEOs from major corporations like LVMH, L’Oréal, Sanofi, Instacart, and Verizon will also participate in discussions about technology’s strategic value.

The leadership problem: Corporate AI strategy suffers from a significant gap between technology implementation and business leadership, according to Forrester’s State of AI Survey 2024.

• Less than a quarter of CEOs directly oversee AI business strategy: 21% in North America versus 16% in Europe.
• Technology functions (CIOs/CTOs and their teams) lead AI efforts in 63% of North American firms and 71% of European organizations, rather than business leadership.
• Organizations face substantial cultural and skills gaps that prevent them from maximizing AI’s potential.

Startup spotlight: VivaTech will showcase its Top 100 rising European startups, with particular attention on climatetech innovation.

• Notable climatetech companies include 1KOMMA5° (building electrification), UrbanChain (decentralized energy networks), and Treefera (decarbonization solutions).
• The French government’s Tech Next40/120 Class of 2025 features 29 greentech/agritech players, including ChargeMap, Electra, EnergyPool, and Voltalis.

Beyond the hype: The event will likely focus on debates about technology’s economic, political, societal, and environmental impacts rather than major product announcements.

• Many startups will seek funding and unicorn status, though Forrester analyst Thomas Husson warns against excessive focus on valuations over substance.
• Addressing climate challenges requires more than just technology innovation—it demands low-tech solutions, regulatory changes, new business models, and shifts in consumer behavior and executive mindsets.

Why this matters: VivaTech serves as a barometer for European tech innovation and highlights the persistent disconnect between AI’s technical capabilities and strategic business implementation, suggesting that successful AI adoption requires fundamental changes in corporate leadership approaches rather than just technological advancement.