# lvmh-scaleway-souverainete-cloud-geopolitique-tech-vivatech-2026-06-11

## Veille

Video interview recorded at **VivaTech** (**Scaleway** booth), broadcast by the media outlet **République**, bringing together **Damien Lucas** (CEO of Scaleway) and **Franck Le Moal** (Global Technical Officer of the **LVMH** group). **Central thesis**: the emergence of a **"tech geopolitics"** is forcing multinationals to abandon the single global solution in favor of an **information system regionalized into three blocs** (United States, Europe, China). LVMH (€80bn in revenue, 75 maisons, 100+ countries) formalizes a **cloud partnership with Scaleway** to build an **autonomous European building block**, alongside Google Cloud (data, since 2021), SAP, Salesforce on the Western side and Alibaba Cloud / Huawei / Tencent on the Chinese side. The group describes itself as **"hybrid"** and **autonomous** rather than **"sovereign"** (a word it rejects, deemed ambiguous). Scaleway positions itself as a **European cloud provider** immune to extraterritorial laws and protected against a **kill switch** ("not science fiction," given the weekend's news). Damien Lucas's economic argument: **€1 spent with Scaleway = 68 cents that stay in the European economy** (vs < 20 cents with a US hyperscaler, even when hosted in France). Timeline: PoCs completed, rollout starting at **Sephora and Louis Vuitton**, significant footprint targeted within **12-18 months**. Scaleway's stated mission: focus on **IaaS/PaaS** (no verticalization such as office productivity software), relying on a partner ecosystem (sovereign applications, European chipsets and servers). Scaleway's **Nvidia GPU / AI** offering is **not planned in the short term** but remains open (open source models for autonomy + economic performance).

## Titre Article

LVMH × Scaleway sur VivaTech : géopolitique de la tech, autonomie européenne et cloud hybride régionalisé (entretien République)

## Date

2026-06-11

## URL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hPO_MmjvFo

## Keywords

digital sovereignty, strategic autonomy, European cloud, tech geopolitics, kill switch, extraterritorial laws, hybrid cloud, multicloud, IT system regionalization, geopolitical blocs, Scaleway, LVMH, Google Cloud, Alibaba Cloud, Huawei, Tencent, SAP, Salesforce, hyperscaler, IaaS, PaaS, public cloud, economic trickle-down, Health Data Hub, European Commission, European chipsets, European servers, Nvidia GPU, open source models, LLM, agentic AI, e-commerce, cybersecurity, sensitive data, VivaTech, Sephora, Louis Vuitton, luxury, multinational corporation

## Authors

**Bertrand** — journaliste / présentateur du média **République** (partenaire de VivaTech), conduit l'entretien. **Damien Lucas** — CEO de **Scaleway**. **Franck Le Moal** — Global Technical Officer du groupe **LVMH**.

## Ton

**Profile**: a three-voice filmed interview (trade-show event interview format), a **strategic B2B** register aimed at **CIOs / executive committees** and the French tech ecosystem. Medium technical level: cloud architecture is discussed (IaaS/PaaS, hyperscaler, workloads, containers/VMs) but the focus is mainly on **strategy, risk and geopolitics**, kept accessible.

**Style**: an **institutional and measured** tone, typical of a listed group's corporate communication. Franck Le Moal practices a **rhetoric of nuance**: he pushes back on the journalist's shortcuts ("I wouldn't quite put it that way," "I don't know if LVMH has a swarm-like approach"), explicitly rejects the word **"sovereignty"** in favor of **"autonomy"** and **"hybridization"**, and weaves in national pride ("Mr. Arnault says it constantly… showcasing French know-how"). A recurring **risk** vocabulary (operational, continuity, financial risks) and of **"healthy tension / healthy competition"** among suppliers. Damien Lucas adopts a **mission-driven** and pedagogical register: framed definitions ("a modern… and European cloud provider"), the **trickle-down** metaphor (68 cents vs 20 cents), an emphasis on **focus** ("we have a mission, it's important we stick to it"). Signature phrases: *"immune to extraterritorial laws"*, *"a potential kill switch… it's not entirely science fiction"*, *"the wake-up call is here and it's accelerating"*, *"the days when you could work with a single global solution are over"*.

## Pense-betes

- **Key thesis**: **"tech geopolitics"** dictates the end of the single global solution. A multinational must now manage an information system with **three regional visions** — American, European, Chinese — and **distribute its application partners** across these major blocs.
- **Why now**: rising tensions spreading to tech (LLMs vs the United States), China increasingly **closed/specific** and regulating to force **localization** on foreign players; emergence of a **European ecosystem** to be encouraged. Explicit risks: **operational, continuity, financial**.
- **LVMH's stance**: rejects the word **"sovereignty"** (ambiguous, "several sovereignties"), claims **autonomy + hybridization**. Maintains a **"healthy tension"** with US partners (avoiding dependence on a single one). Contributing to **building the European ecosystem** = the "responsibility" of a proud French company (reference to Bernard Arnault).
- **LVMH cloud map** (deliberate multicloud):
- **Google Cloud**: strategic **data partnership since 2021**, across *all* maisons.
- **Alibaba Cloud**: essential partner in **China** (~**25 maisons**), plus **Huawei**, **Tencent**.
- **SAP**: at the core of major processes (finance, supply, manufacturing); "will soon start working with Scaleway."
- **Salesforce**, Microsoft, Oracle, AWS: historical Western foundation.
- **Scaleway**: new **European building block**.
- **What LVMH puts on Scaleway**: **potentially sensitive data** to protect, **e-commerce workloads** in European countries, deploying its **cybersecurity solutions** on a more autonomous infrastructure. A logic of **regional coherence** to avoid dispersing the maisons.
- **Why Scaleway** (selection criteria): **genuine hyperscaler / public cloud approach** (not the case for all EU players), **high-performing IaaS + PaaS**, **agility**, and above all **responsiveness / co-development** of features for large private accounts. Difficulty noted: finding a European offering "on par" with Google Cloud / Alibaba Cloud / AWS was **not obvious** until recently.
- **Timeline**: **recent** signing, **PoCs completed**, migration underway (VMs, containers, applications). Rollout starting at **Sephora** and **Louis Vuitton** (+ others); **significant footprint within 12-18 months** (ramp-up of most maisons in France/Europe). Goal: **rebalance market shares** by bloc, not migrate everything.
- **Market vision (Damien Lucas)**: a real shift **that is accelerating**, driven by (1) **data criticality**, (2) **independence / kill switch**, (3) **economics**. The **trickle-down** argument: *"€1 with Scaleway = 68 cents stay in the European economy"* vs **< 20 cents** with a US hyperscaler even in France. Public-side evidence: **European Commission** tender, **Health Data Hub** (health data platform). Private cycles are **long** (cloud is at the core of the information system) — the 12-18 months cited by LVMH is **very agile** compared to the average.
- **Scaleway's mission / scope**: **focus on IaaS/PaaS** as an **alternative to US hyperscalers**; **avoid verticalization** (neither office productivity software nor solving chipset/server/RAM dependency alone). An **ecosystem** logic: sovereign application partners (email, office productivity) already on Scaleway + **European chipset and server** suppliers.
- **AI / GPU**: Scaleway has a strong **Nvidia (GPU) partnership**. On LVMH's side, AI use is **not planned in the short term** (cloud/PaaS focus first) but **everything remains open**: running **open source models** on Scaleway for **autonomy + economic performance**, offsetting dependence on major AI players (OpenAI, Anthropic, Alibaba/Qwen). Requirement: Scaleway must become *"as good as Google, as good as Alibaba."*
- **Closing point**: a world **unpredictable within weeks/months** (AI, agentic) → stay **agile**, build the **fundamentals of autonomy**, and retain the **ability to challenge** all players.

## RésuméDe400mots

In this interview filmed at the Scaleway booth at VivaTech (République media), journalist Bertrand hosts **Damien Lucas** (CEO of Scaleway) and **Franck Le Moal** (Global Technical Officer of LVMH) to formalize and explain their **cloud partnership**.

Damien Lucas defines Scaleway as a **modern European cloud provider**, **immune to extraterritorial laws** and **technologically independent**: it protects data against any exploitation by third-party authorities without a court decision, and against the existence of a **"kill switch"** — a risk that the weekend's news makes "not entirely science fiction."

Franck Le Moal recalls LVMH's scale (≈ €80bn in revenue, 75 maisons, 100+ countries) and sets out the framework: the emergence of a **"tech geopolitics"** (a powerful United States, an increasingly closed China regulating to force localization, an awakening Europe) compels multinationals to regionalize their information systems. In his view, *"the days when you could work with a single global solution are over"*: it is necessary to manage **three visions** (American, European, Chinese) and distribute application partners across these blocs. LVMH describes itself as **hybrid** and **autonomous** rather than **sovereign** (a word it rejects as ambiguous), while embracing French pride (a reference to Bernard Arnault) and the **responsibility** of contributing to the European ecosystem.

The group's cloud map is explicitly multicloud: **Google Cloud** (data, since 2021, across all maisons), **Alibaba Cloud** + Huawei + Tencent in China (~25 maisons), **SAP** (finance, supply, manufacturing), Salesforce, and now **Scaleway** as the European building block. On Scaleway, LVMH will place **potentially sensitive data**, European **e-commerce workloads**, and its **cybersecurity solutions**. The choice rests on a **genuine hyperscaler/public cloud approach**, high-performing **IaaS/PaaS** services, **agility**, and **responsiveness** (co-development). PoCs completed, deployment underway at **Sephora** and **Louis Vuitton**; a significant footprint is expected **within 12-18 months**.

Damien Lucas observes a **market shift toward Europe that is accelerating**, driven by data criticality, fear of the kill switch, and economics — illustrated by the **trickle-down effect** (*€1 with Scaleway = 68 cents stay in Europe* vs < 20 cents with a US hyperscaler) and by public references (European Commission, Health Data Hub). Scaleway claims a **mission focused on IaaS/PaaS** (no verticalization), at the heart of a partner ecosystem (sovereign applications, European chipsets and servers). On the **AI/Nvidia GPU** side, LVMH has no short-term plans but remains open to **open source models** to combine autonomy and economic performance in a "totally unpredictable" world.

## GrapheDeConnaissance

- LVMH —collabore_avec→ Scaleway (ORGANISATION, 0.98)
- Damien Lucas —dirige→ Scaleway (ORGANISATION, 0.99)
- Franck Le Moal —travaille_chez→ LVMH (ORGANISATION, 0.99)
- Scaleway —est_instance_de→ cloud provider européen (CONCEPT, 0.95)
- Scaleway —permet→ kill switch (CONCEPT, 0.92)
- Franck Le Moal —affirme_que→ c'est fini la vie où on pouvait travailler avec une solution mondiale unique (CITATION, 0.95)
- géopolitique de la tech —permet→ régionalisation du SI en trois plaques (US, Europe, Chine) (CONCEPT, 0.9)
- LVMH —utilise→ Google Cloud (data, depuis 2021) (TECHNOLOGIE, 0.96)
- LVMH —utilise→ Alibaba Cloud (Chine, ~25 maisons) (TECHNOLOGIE, 0.95)
- LVMH —recommande→ une approche hybride et autonome plutôt que « souveraine » (AFFIRMATION, 0.9)
- LVMH —utilise→ Scaleway (TECHNOLOGIE, 0.9)
- Damien Lucas —affirme_que→ 1 € dépensé chez Scaleway = 68 centimes restent dans l'économie européenne (vs < 20 centimes chez un hyperscaler US) (MESURE, 0.9)
- Damien Lucas —affirme_que→ le réveil du marché vers le cloud européen est là et s'accélère (AFFIRMATION, 0.88)
- Scaleway —s_applique_à→ la couche IaaS et PaaS (sans verticalisation) (CONCEPT, 0.92)
- Scaleway —concurrence→ les hyperscalers américains (AWS, Google Cloud) (ORGANISATION, 0.9)
- Scaleway —collabore_avec→ Nvidia (GPU) (ORGANISATION, 0.85)
- LVMH —prédit→ recours possible aux modèles open source sur Scaleway pour autonomie et performance économique (AFFIRMATION, 0.8)

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Canonical: https://www.thekb.eu/en/fiches/lvmh-scaleway-souverainete-cloud-geopolitique-tech-vivatech-2026-06-11/