During the Dreamforce conference, Bpifrance led a delegation of eleven French companies to San Francisco — representing industries from manufacturing and digital tech to insurance, chemistry, and robotics. In partnership with the French-American Chambers of Commerce of California and Texas and with the support of Mistral AI, this initiative called Parcours IA-Industrie aimed to immerse French business leaders in the heart of California’s tech ecosystem, helping them understand real-world applications of artificial intelligence and explore new transatlantic opportunities.
A strategic learning journey
The initiative is part of Bpifrance’s broader mission to support the digital transformation of French companies. The goal: position AI as a driver of competitiveness and performance, and help business leaders understand how to integrate it practically and strategically into their operations.
“The idea was to spark a mindset shift — to show how these technologies can be used pragmatically in their daily work,” explains Agustin Cedeño, Head of Export for the Americas at Bpifrance.
For many participants, the mission was an eye-opener to AI’s immediate potential — from automating supply chain operations to using tools like Agentforce to improve post-hospitalization care in the healthcare sector.
Beyond the technology itself, the trip encouraged a more hands-on innovation mindset: “Here in California, companies approach AI with a concrete, results-driven perspective. That’s an inspiring takeaway for our participants,” adds Cedeño.
A tailor-made immersion into California’s ecosystem
Over the course of a week, the delegation explored the Silicon Valley ecosystem through a mix of site visits, workshops, and business meetings.
Highlights included a business forum at Plug & Play in Palo Alto — the startup accelerator behind unicorns like PayPal, Dropbox, and Logitech — a roundtable with French tech players such as EDF Innovation Lab, Airbus Innovation Lab, and Sony Ventures, and a visit to Google’s campus for an inside look at how Gemini is shaping AI use cases.
Dreamforce, Salesforce’s global tech conference and one of the most influential events in the industry, served as the high point of the week. It offered the delegation a front-row seat to emerging tech trends, valuable networking opportunities, and potential collaborations in the field of AI.
The Bpifrance delegation visiting Plug and Play headquarters in Sunnyvale
Building transatlantic bridges
Bpifrance has long partnered with French-American Chambers of Commerce to organize such immersion programs. After successful missions with the FACC Texas around events like South by Southwest in Austin and the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston, this West Coast collaboration was a natural next step.
The French-American Chamber of Commerce of California (SF-LA), in close collaboration with the Texas chapter, played a key role in organizing this week-long program, which combined business networking, local insights, and meetings with key players from the French-American innovation community.
Turning inspiration into action
Bpifrance plans to keep the momentum going. A follow-up seminar will be held in Paris in the coming weeks, alongside Salesforce France, to turn insights from the California immersion into concrete business use cases and implementation projects.
For Bpifrance, the Parcours IA-Industrie program marks another step forward in accelerating the digital transformation of French SMEs and mid-sized companies — with artificial intelligence emerging more than ever as a key driver of competitiveness, innovation, and growth.
