AI France 2030: An inspiring and insightful evening at Halle de l’Innovation
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On January 29, the Halle de l’Innovation welcomed nearly 150 participants to an event organized by the Montpellier Méditerranée AI association to provide insights into the “Artificial Intelligence Pioneers” call for projects. Here’s a look back at this successful event!
This event fits into a strong regional dynamic aimed at encouraging and supporting local stakeholders, including businesses, research laboratories, and higher education institutions, as they apply for a strategic national initiative under the France 2030 plan.
The evening began with a detailed presentation of the “AI Pioneers” call for projects, whose goal is to support R&D projects with high potential for technological disruption, able to:
Generate lasting impact on the economy
Contribute to national sovereignty
Strengthen France’s position in the field of artificial intelligence.
This session featured three speakers representing:
The Directorate General for Enterprise (DGE),
Bpifrance
Inria
It provided an opportunity to review the program’s objectives, project expectations, and eligibility criteria, before opening the floor to questions from the audience, notably with respect to preparing application files.
In the second part of the evening, the floor was given to the area’s leading academic research centers, highlighting the richness of Montpellier’s artificial intelligence research ecosystem.
Beyond the content covered during the event, this was one of the first occasions to bring together such a large number of partner organizations around a common objective: to provide as many local stakeholders as possible with clear, accessible, and actionable information regarding a major structural call for projects.
Who can apply to the AI Pioneers call for projects?
Speakers at the event emphasized that the call for projects is specifically aimed at:
High-potential SMEs and mid-sized companies operating in a key technology segment and capable of scaling rapidly
Public research organizations, universities, and engineering schools involved in an entrepreneurial project aligned with the program’s objectives
Research and higher education institutions engaged in a technology transfer project that addresses an identified industrial need
The next deadlines for submitting applications on the Bpifrance submission platform are set for:
March 10, 2026, 12:00 p.m.
June 9, 2026, 12:00 p.m.
Were you unable to attend the event? Watch the panel discussion analyzing the call for projects.
