Expleo AI Pulse

As we entered the New Year, we asked our respondents which areas businesses will invest in. With Gartner predicting 2.5 trillion USD in 2026 – a 44% year-on-year increase – AI promises to be high on agendas once again.

Number one on the list? Cybersecurity. In all three markets, this area was highlighted as the main area of investment, highlighted by 41% of all respondents. As the AI Pulse has shown elsewhere, concerns over cybersecurity and AI remain front of mind. As such, businesses are looking to counteract that risk.

Trailing behind as the second and third highest rated priorities was automation (30%) and data analysis & insights (29%). These have long been identified as areas where AI can have major efficiency gains for businesses, and it looks as though more are looking to capitalise on those benefits.

With AI agents now replacing everyday web searches and becoming embedded into more and more daily tasks, conversations about the environmental impact of AI are growing louder.

Of the countries surveyed in November’s AI Pulse, the proportion of respondents ‘concerned’ or very ‘concerned’ with the environmental impacts of AI technologies used or created by their business was just 42%. However, this varied significantly by market, with concern highest in the UK (54%). By comparison, just 43% of French and 30% of German respondents were ‘concerned’ or very concerned.’ This highlights the latest disparity in attitudes between our markets, perhaps reflecting the levels of adoption in each.

In October, the notion of AI in monitoring productivity and performance in the workplace gained momentum. When surveyed on the use of the technology for this purpose, 50% of respondents said they were somewhat or very concerned. However, this number varied significantly by market, reaching 56% in the UK and falling to 38% in France and 39% in Germany. This disparity perhaps reflects the strong culture of employee rights in the latter, as well as a cooling job market in the UK.

Investments in AI technologies continue at a sustained pace. According to the European Parliament, last year European countries invested a combined total of some €19.4 billion (report published in September 2025 entitled "Making Europe an AI continent"). This is significantly less than in the USA, where over €109 billion was invested during the same period. Nevertheless, the debate about a potential "AI bubble" gains momentum in the media and is being felt by companies across the world. While business leaders remain confident in the potential of AI, as highlighted by the Expleo AI Pulse confidence index, 49% surveyed in September believe we are already in an "AI bubble," compared to 41% who do not.

With adoption levels of AI growing almost exponentially, national governments and international bodies are moving to create legislation which supports growth and innovation, while protecting users. Respondents across the UK, France and Germany are overall cautiously optimistic about the capacity for regulations to strike this balance, with 50% saying they will support ethical use of AI in business, compared to just 25% believing they will not.