VivaTech 2026: a look back at the innovations presented by Keolis in support of mobility

VivaTech 2026: Major Trends

For its 10th anniversary, VivaTech highlighted several key themes: Artificial Intelligence (Impact, Not Illusion), Cybersecurity & Defense, Sovereignty & Ethics, as well as Energy and Greentech.

AI as a tool, not an end goal

AI is everywhere. It’s not an end in itself but a tool to move faster, push boundaries, and improve performance in concrete use cases—from cybersecurity to healthcare and green technologies. Generative AI and agentic AI are transforming our jobs, organizations, and processes. This dynamic is precisely what Keolis emphasizes this year with the theme _Data In Action_, the editorial line chosen by SNCF for this 2026 edition.

Physical AI and robotics: the new frontier

The next battle for AI shifts toward robotics, industry, and autonomous systems. Nearly 1,500 demonstrations were scheduled: humanoids, drones, exoskeletons, brain-machine interfaces. In mobility, this is reflected in the acceleration of autonomous vehicles and supervisory systems.

Cybersecurity: an inescapable priority

Cybersecurity is already a key investment for 82% of the surveyed leaders, ahead of artificial intelligence. For critical infrastructure operators like Keolis, strengthening the operational resilience of industrial systems through data—exemplified by the Cockpit solution showcased during our presentations—is a crucial part of addressing this challenge.

Digital sovereignty: the growing divide

European companies have never spoken more about sovereignty. Yet, they also depend more than ever on clouds, processors, and models from the US or Asia. The choice of Germany as the Country of the Year reflects the Franco-German will to collectively stand against American hyperscalers and Chinese tech giants.

Responsible AI: trust as a condition for deployment

The question is no longer "Can we deploy AI?" but "Under what conditions can we trust it?" Governance, non-discrimination, and transparency in algorithms now determine the social acceptance of AI systems in public services and companies. This is the core of the Geeis-AI initiative presented by Keolis.

Within this context, Keolis participated in VivaTech 2026 alongside SNCF. The projects showcased at our booth are operational responses to the challenges highlighted during the event.

Watch our talks on the mobility of tomorrow and artificial intelligence

Our experts presented the Group’s latest innovation breakthroughs through their talks on the theme Data In Action.

Our start-up partners at the trade fair this year

Once again this year, we are proud to have worked with partners bringing concrete advances in mobility, accessibility and sustainability.

• Mentaleco, a specialist in mental ecology and neurosciences, designs innovative approaches to improve drivers’ experience and encourage lasting adoption of public transport. For Keolis, Mentaleco has conducted several major studies; the most recent examines our use of AI and its impact on the way we live and perceive mobility.

• Wemap specialises in indoor and outdoor wayfinding using augmented reality. Disrupted traffic situations, stations, metro stops, complex multimodal hubs… Wemap provides interactive maps and precise guidance.

• 630° EST supports Keolis in designing and deploying immersive and educational tools, using data and digital content to showcase innovation projects and make ongoing changes across networks easier to understand.

• Handimap develops inclusive mapping and route-planning solutions, finely integrating public-space accessibility constraints to offer routes adapted to people with disabilities or reduced mobility, complementing existing transport services.

• Ezymob, a key partner of Ginko Guide in Besançon, harnesses AI and computer vision to improve accessibility: detecting vehicle doors and free seats, providing audio guidance in transport hubs, and offering real-time support for visually impaired people or those with cognitive disabilities, for more independent and safer journeys.

• Handivisible designs solutions that make it easier to take invisible disabilities into account in transport networks, providing tools both for passengers and frontline teams to better detect specific needs and adapt support without stigma.

• BeTomorrow brings its expertise in digital experience design, data and gamification to imagine new digital mobility services, from passenger information and user engagement to real-time data visualisation.

• Modulopi develops modular tools to orchestrate and manage operational and ridership data, making it easier to experiment with and scale up new mobility offerings, fully aligned with the “Data in Action” dynamic.

A look back at our presentations at Vivatech 2025 on the theme of future mobility and digital inclusion

Our experts welcomed you at the SNCF booth to share with you the latest developments in innovation.

1. Antonia Hoog - Group Strategy Director- Keolis Goup, presented our partnership with Pimms Médiation, highlighting Keolis and SNCF’s commitment to tackling the digital divide.

2. Laurent Bulté, Director of Service Offering and Performance - Keolis Group, introduced Impulse, the data visualization platform that shares the status of the network and reconstructs passenger journeys using AI developed by Keolis, in partnership with IVADO.

3. Arnaud Julien, Chief Innovation - Keolis Group, showed how AI supports employees and improves their day-to-day work.

4. Thierry Arrouvel, Head of Research, Data & Innovation, MaaS, and Digital Marketing - Keolis Bordeaux Métropole, explained how AI is reinventing the voice of the customer through smart recruitment, dynamic engagement, and real-time feedback analysis.

5. Adrien Broué, Head of Innovation Lab - Keolis Group, shared how Keolis uses AI to better match supply with real demand of transport services—reducing wait times, improving comfort, and enhancing the passenger experience.

6. Driver Mental Load Analysis: Sofia Escamilla Garcia, UX Strategist and Researcher at Keolis Group, and Gaël Allain, Expert in Applied Cognitive Sciences at Mental Eco, explained how neuroscience and AI can evaluate the mental load of public transport drivers, thereby enhancing their performance and well-being.

7. Optimization of Electromobility: Bruno Lapeyrie, Director of the Energy-Bus Center of Excellence at Keolis Group, presented KeOps, a solution using AI to optimize electric bus usage, reducing costs, breakdowns, and administrative burden for more efficient and sustainable mobility.

Our startup partners at VivaTech 2025

- Andyamo simplifies travel for people with reduced mobility. In Lyon, we’ve integrated an option into the TCL app to calculate routes adapted to their needs.

- Bioteos improves air quality in urban environments using innovative microalgae technology. A pilot in the Lille metro aims to provide a healthier space.

- On the TBM network in Bordeaux, Episto enhances customer insights with generative AI, delivering more relevant feedback.

- Mentaleco, experts in mental ecology and neuroscience, is helping create a more positive experience for drivers and promoting the values of future mobility. For Keolis, they’ve conducted two studies : one about tram and bus drivers and another about on-demand transport drivers.

- Urbanloop, present in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines since the Paris 2024 Olympics, offers a public transport system with autonomous rail pods—an innovative step forward in mobility.

- Finally, during roadworks, Wemap supported us with an augmented reality smartphone guidance system to inform passengers of temporary stop changes.

Through our partnerships with startups, Keolis implements a strong open innovation strategy to support sustainable and inclusive mobility. By integrating emerging technologies, we rely on the unique expertise of startups to address today’s mobility challenges.

Learnex: exchange & innovate with startups

VivaTech is also a time for dialogue and innovation. We organized a Learnex session to connect with startups and share those experiences with our Keolis innovation leads across regions.

We were also pleased to welcome teams from Keolis networks along with our partners from the Public Transport Authorities, including Île-de-France Mobilités, Bordeaux Métropole, and the Greater Dole Urban Community.

Together, we explored concrete solutions presented by our partners and innovative startups, focusing on key topics such as new energy sources, artificial intelligence and computer vision, accessibility and inclusion, adaptive new modes of transport, enhanced customer relations, commercial speed, and predictive maintenance.

Looking back at VivaTech 2024

In 2024, Keolis took part in Europe’s biggest tech event, which offers the perfect opportunity to present the innovative projects led by the Keolis Group, its regions and its partners. It was also a chance to meet with new startups and to continue developing our Open Innovation approach.

- Our sessions were an opportunity to present our innovations in the service of post-carbon mobility, accessible and attentive to each and every one of us:

- Personalised schedules: Adrien Broué presented this algorithm-based innovation for creating personalised schedules for drivers, improving work-life balance without compromising the quality of service delivered.

- Open by Keolis, the innovation approach at the service of local authorities: Arnaud Julien presented the network of innovation Labs co-constructed with the Mobility Organising Authorities, run locally and fed by the Group's innovation network.

- Autonomous buses and shuttles: Clémentine Barbier has taken us on a tour of the latest news and projects in autonomous public road mobility (buses and shuttles).

- Patterns CO2: Nicolas Cosson, Chairman of Hove, presented Patterns CO2, a tool developed for local authorities and AOMs to measure the impact of mobility projects on modal split and CO2 emissions.

- Data and energy transition - Keolis Alpes-Maritimes: Eric Calle presented the data platform for managing operating data, deployed by Keolis Alpes-Maritimes to support the electrification of its buses, and which will make it possible to continuously assess the performance of their components.

- Impulse: Arnaud Julien presented this platform, which enables all the players involved to share a common vision of the network for optimised management of the transport network.

- Affluence: Arnaud Julien showed us how AI can automatically measure on-board affluence to help passengers choose their seat on the train.

2024, our partners at Vivatech

- Employees' well-being: We talked about health at work and employee well-being with the start-up Ergosanté, which offers exoskeleton solutions to relieve awkward postures. Following an in-depth study of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), we worked with Ergosanté to deploy an exoskeleton model in Tours on various maintenance workstations. This device, which protects the shoulders and arms during prolonged standing with arms raised, will be presented on the SNCF stand.

- Inclusivity

Accessible transport is part of our commitment to mobility that takes account of everyone. Someware presented its solutions for improving accessibility and walkability in towns and cities. Based on international and European data standards, its Handimap solution is deployed on our Rennes network. Handimap integrates with the route planners of local applications and websites to offer routes suitable for everyone, whether wheelchair users, the visually impaired, senior citizens or children.

Ezymob and its solution deployed on the Keolis Besançon network was also presented at Vivatech. Thanks to AI, the solution developed by this start-up detects doors, free seats on board and audio guidance for visually impaired passengers.

- Guiding passengers using Augmented Reality : Another solution to enhance the passenger experience comes from start-up Wemap, which offers interactive maps and navigation systems for indoor and outdoor spaces. Deployed in Nancy in 2023 as part of the work to replace the main tramway line with a trolley bus line, this solution aims to guide passengers from closed stops to transfer stops. By simply flashing a QR code, the guidance system is launched with augmented reality images.

Our other partners also present elsewhere at the show:

- Bioteos and its microalgae-based air treatment solution, which is being tested on our network in the Lille metro.

- Affluences and its patented flow counting system, which has been adapted for testing in the Lyon metro.

And meeting other startups:

Vivatech is also an opportunity to talk to a number of start-ups present at the show. This year, a learnex enabled us to share these meetings with our innovation correspondents from various Keolis territories.

Startups are a key element of innovation at Keolis, with experiments that enable new approaches and solutions to be tested under real conditions in our territories.

Among the players we met at Vivatech:

- 1km à Pied : HR software for geographical mobility to reduce commuting costs

- Entropy : transport demand forecasts for all TAD services

- Fruggr (by Digital4Better) : improving the digital footprint and decarbonising IT services

- Neovya (Mobility by Technology) : road traffic modelling and forecasting to optimise routes

- Bib Batteries : AI for battery residual value analysis