Behind the emblematic images of transformations in the infrastructure sector – wind turbines, electric vehicles, smart grids, data centres or connected buildings – lies a perhaps less visible yet essential reality. A “invisible tip of the iceberg” that includes cutting-edge innovations in decarbonisation, predictive maintenance and adaptation to climate change.

From this perspective, innovation is no longer just about optimising processes through digital platforms. It is now embodied in equipment, materials and tangible infrastructure. Leonard, VINCI’s innovation and foresight platform, is actively helping to shape this new era by connecting sector start-ups with the Group’s 7,000 locations across more than 120 countries.

“Innovation driven by industrial start-ups”

In the infrastructure sector, major digital concepts such as uberisation and disintermediation quickly showed their limits. Projects are long-term, investments are heavy and regulation is omnipresent. You do not “disrupt” a construction site in the same way as you launch a mobile app.

“In our sectors, innovation is never purely technological,” states Kevin Cardona, Director of Entrepreneurial Innovation at Leonard. After an initial wave largely focused on “all-digital”, the centre of gravity has gradually shifted. “Innovation now addresses productivity, environmental impact, health and safety, security and competitiveness through industrial products designed as close as possible to actual needs. What matters is not technological sophistication, but real-world use on site.”

AI and tech, yes… but integrated and useful

Start-ups have significant potential and a key role to play in this context, emphasises Kevin Cardona, because “they often create value in very targeted niches”.

Artificial intelligence, for example – which the platform has included in its foresight work since 2017 – is not seen here as a miracle solution. The primary challenge is adoption: understanding how to integrate these technologies into day-to-day operations in a useful way, particularly to eliminate tedious and repetitive tasks.

Embedded AI marks a new stage. At the heart of several projects to be presented at the launch event for Leonard’s new cohort on 14 January, it is integrated directly into equipment, machines and the infrastructure itself : an operational AI, capable of acting, measuring and anticipating uncertainties…

Innovation deployed worldwide, on the ground

To drive this constantly evolving innovation, Leonard increasingly relies on collaborations with stakeholders from around the world, mirroring the VINCI Group, whose international presence is built on the diversity of ecosystems and expertise. The number of collaborations implemented with VINCI’s business units is Leonard’s main performance indicator. These collaborations “demonstrate the relevance and real need for the solutions” and help bring them directly into practical application on the ground.

The momentum is significant: around fifty projects supported each year, showcased to more than a thousand VINCI Group employees annually. “We need to create opportunities for the ecosystem to meet, and build conditions of trust between VINCI’s business lines, external entrepreneurs and the investors who fund them,” observes Leonard’s Director of Entrepreneurial Innovation.

Start-ups turning regulation and climate change into a lever

Despite international priorities that may appear to overshadow environmental issues, entrepreneurs continue to innovate and propose solutions with a positive impact, Kevin Cardona reminds us. These start-ups share a common approach: innovating differently, with concrete applications, and turning regulation and environmental considerations into a “lever of trust and competitiveness”. They take current challenges as a starting point and build from there. Geoclay, with its low-carbon concrete, and Revilo – a new VINCI brand also boosted by Leonard, focused on creating urban cooling islands – are fine illustrations.

A few more telling examples of directly applicable and useful innovations, drawn from previous cohorts of Leonard’s SEED and CATALYST support programmes:

  • HyLight, a start-up that replaces helicopter flights with drones for maintaining energy infrastructure (saving significant amounts of CO₂ in the process);
  • Orus Energy, working in the field of electrical flexibility for large energy consumers;
  • Strong by Form, combining AI and robotics to create low-carbon composite materials from wood debris;
  • Ostrea, which transforms recycled shells into a low environmental impact material;
  • Akanthas, focused on managing construction waste using computer vision;
  • Voltfang, specialising in intelligent energy management through batteries;
  • Flyability, offering a versatile drone for infrastructure inspection.

Would you like to discover the 50 solutions supported by Leonard in 2026, highlighting embedded AI in robotics, industrial decarbonisation and electric mobility? Join us online to follow Leonard’s Launch Day on 14 January 2026, from 2 pm to 4 pm.

Register : https://www.eventbrite.fr/e/billets-leonard-launch-day-2026-1979215128729