“AI at the heart of everything” – What Vivatech in Paris is like

Long live artificial intelligence – “At the heart of everything you see, hear, and experience here is AI.” With these words, Maurice Lévy, chairman of the supervisory board of the Publicis Group, and Pierre Louette, CEO of Groupe Les Echos Les Parisien, opened Vivatech 2024. Because this year, Paris is naturally all about artificial intelligence. This is evident not only when looking into the halls, where according to the two speakers 40 percent of all showcases come from the AI sector. AI is also constantly on the agenda at the numerous stages of Vivatech, with high-profile speakers from companies like OpenAI, Meta, Mistral, Baidu, Google, Nvidia, Adobe and others sharing their knowledge. By the way, you can follow parts of the program live via the website or the LinkedIn page of Viva Technology. (Image: Viva Technology)

Long live politics – Politics is also strongly represented at Vivatech, not only in the form of Marina Ferrari, French state minister for digitalization, who gets to praise the economic policy of President Macron and present some successes. Under the heading “Bullet Train to the Future,” this year’s partner country Japan also presents itself. Kazuchika Iwata, state minister in Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, brought not only a perspective on the long-standing French-Japanese friendship, but also a video message from Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. He then hands the microphone to Manabu Miyasaka, vice governor and CIO of the Tokyo metropolitan government, who raves about a cooperation between Vivatech and Sushitech. In the further course of its four-day program, Vivatech will also host Thierry Breton, EU commissioner for the internal market, Charles Michel, president of the European Council, as well as John Kerry, US secretary of state under President Obama and until March this year US special envoy for climate for President Biden. (Image: Viva Technology)

Long live the car – If you didn’t know better, you might mistake Vivatech for an automotive trade show. Not only has Tesla displayed numerous of its models at the fair, but Peugeot and Audi are also presenting themselves with concept vehicles. But it’s not just the automakers that are strongly represented at the fair. In fact, numerous large corporations have their own booth at Vivatech, and not just the usual suspects like AWS, Google, Meta, Microsoft and Co. Airbus, Axa, BNP Paribas, JCDecaux, L’Oreal, Siemens, LVMH, Nvidia, Orange and many others are also present. Overall, according to the organizers, over 2,800 exhibitors meet around 150,000 visitors at Vivatech. (Image: Munich Startup)

Long live the pitch – In the two exhibition halls, alongside the company booths, there are nine stages and booths from 40 countries. From Belgium, Holland and Ukraine to Senegal, Brazil, Canada and Korea, the global tech scene – not just Europe – meets here. And at nearly all of these booths, pitches happen – short and concise as well as long and detailed. Overall, according to Vivatech, 11,400 startups and 2,500 investors are on site. (Image: Munich Startup)

Long live Franco-German friendship – Of course, Germany also has a booth at Vivatech. But it differs from its presence at other trade shows. Because in the French-German Tech Lab, it’s all about technological and academic cooperation between France and Germany. You’ll find not only representatives of the DE:Hub initiative here, but also the German-French Academy for the Industry of the Future, which was launched by the Technical University of Munich and the Institut Mines-Télécom. Both institutions have also brought along some of their startups – TUM, for example, brought Roundpeg Technologies from Munich. (Image: Munich Startup)

Long live regionalism – But not only Germany has its own booth, Bavaria does too – as do numerous regions of France. Organized by Bayern International, selected startups from the Free State and the state capital – such as Fulfin and Deltavision – exhibit and provide information about their solutions. On the second day of the trade show, the startups will also pitch here, together with other Munich startups that are part of the Munich Startup delegation. The image shows a visit from Tobias Gotthardt (far left), state secretary in the Bavarian State Ministry for Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy. After a brief greeting, the state secretary took the time to speak with each startup at the booth. (Image: Munich Startup).