Press release – Panorama Top 250 of French software publishers – 14th edition Publishers enter the generative AI race

In 2023, growth for French software publishers was more measured, reaching 7.6% versus 10.6% in 2022. At the same time, 85% of companies reported sales growth, demonstrating widespread resilience in a complex economic environment.

Innovation andupselling drive growth: while innovation (33%) andupselling (18%) are the preferred growth strategies for software publishers, external growth (12%) also represents an important lever.

A sustainable business model:2023 highlighted the resilience and viability of software publishers’ business models: 82% of the publishers on the panel recorded an operating profit.

Artificial intelligence, the future of the sector: although investment in cloud and SaaS remains crucial among French software publishers (48%), this figure is down year-on-year (54% in 2022). This shift has been to the benefit of artificial intelligence, which is now the number one priority for 22% of our respondents (versus 14% in 2022), and 74% of publishers consider it to be one of the top three technological priorities in 2023 (versus 58% in 2022), ahead of cybersecurity. In addition, the integration of generative AI into software publishers’ offerings is booming: 40% of respondents have already integrated generative AI into their offering, and 42% plan to do so within the next two years. Against this backdrop, the challenge of training employees in the use of AI is considerable, with only 16% of companies having trained more than 50% of their employees.

CSR is gaining ground: CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) has become a priority issue for 78% of software publishers on the panel, and 82% have initiated a structured CSR approach (vs. 75% in 2022). These figures clearly illustrate the growing awareness and commitment of software publishers to CSR issues, with a particular focus on measuring carbon impact: 57% of publishers are carrying out their carbon footprint, compared with 44% in 2022.

While thelevel of internationalization remains relatively high and stable over the past 7 years (56% of sales in 2023 vs. 58% in 2022), it is dependent on company size. Publishers with sales in excess of 100 million euros will continue to expand geographically, with 62% of sales generated outside France in 2023. The situation is more contrasted for companies with sales of less than 50 million euros: some, such as Braincube, are early adopters of the international development lever, generating almost 80% of their sales abroad, while others concentrate on the French market, with less than 30% of sales generated abroad.

External growth, a confirmed lever for development:despite the uncertainties surrounding the macro-economic environment, 54% of publishers plan to carry out an operation in the future, a figure unchanged from last year. Publishers are keen to expand their international footprint, with over 50% of the panel targeting foreign markets for their next external growth operation.

Self-financing remains a major asset:As last year, 91% of French software publishers are self-financing, in line with their ability to rapidly generate operating profitability.

The second most important lever used by French software publishers is debt, with 68% declaring that they use it to finance their development. These financing levers are stable.

Talent remains a key resource for software publishers:headcount continues to grow (+7% for the panel as a whole and +4% for pure player publishers), a sign of the sector’s good health and dynamism. Growth in headcount is set to continue in 2024, with 72% of software publishers planning to increase their workforce. However, recruitment difficulties persist: 71% are facing recruitment difficulties, and gender parity remains a challenge, due in particular to a shortage of women entering training courses for digital professions in the broadest sense. On average, software publishers have 27% women on their management committees, and 34% in their overall workforce.

Cyber attacks, a constant threat:62% of the panel’s publishers have faced one or more intrusion attempts on their IT systems since January^1, 2023. Phishing and malware are the main attacks encountered. In this context, publishers prefer to entrust data hosting to specialists, so that they can concentrate on their core business and protect themselves against the risk of cyber-attacks. 83% of them use external datacenters or cloud providers.

R&D is a key growth driver:more than a third of the total workforce (34%) is devoted to R&D, and spending in this area represents 22% of sales. This R&D commitment is observed irrespective of the size of the publisher. Moreover, 66% of the panel’s R&D staff are based in France. This high concentration of R&D activities in France underlines the effectiveness of tax incentives in maintaining and developing innovation in the country.

Tax incentives, major levers for innovation:French software publishers continue to rely heavily on tax incentives to support their research and innovation efforts: 67% of them used the research tax credit (CIR) in 2023. At the same time, software publishers are also embracing the innovation tax credit (CII), with the majority (59%) saying they had used this scheme.This is why, on the occasion of the 2025 Finance Bill, Numeum and twenty national and regional organizations recently reiterated the importance of preserving innovation support schemes. These are the pillars of job creation and the development of intellectual property in France.

« With growth of 7.6%, French software publishers are proving highly resilient in the face of the crisis. This dynamism is all the more remarkable given that SMEs and ETIs in the sector are affipecting two chiffres of growth in 2023, with 85% of publishers recording growth higher than the previous year. Today, French software publishers are taking on a new défi: artificial intelligence, which is becoming a technological priority for 74% of them.Of these, 40% are already integrating generative AI functionalities into their offres, while 42% plan to do so in the next two years. This pace of adoption, while impressive, will need to accelerate further to remain competitive on a global scale and anticipate future business model transformations. In this dynamic of sustained R&D investment, it is becoming essential to preserve innovation financing arrangements at national level, as software is set to play a central role in the adoption of generative AI for our economy as a whole. « Jean-Philippe Couturier, President of Numeum’s Publishers and Platforms College

« At a time when operational indicators remain buoyant and the wind of technological defis is driving software publishers’ development, let’s hope that the financing crisis will not limit their investment capacity. For artificial intelligence, in particular, is necessary to maintain high growth in a context of changing business models and international competition. « Jean-Christophe Pernet, EY Partner

Top 250 winners 2024

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