Vicat accelerates its industrial AI strategy with the acquisition of Araïko
Against the backdrop of rapidly changing industrial models, the Vicat Group announces the acquisition of Araïko, a company specializing in artificial intelligence applied to industry. Together with le1817, the Group’s digital factory, Araïko will allow Vicat to broaden its scope by optimizing its production line and transforming its industrial operations. Together, the two entities bring together 42 employees serving industrial SMEs and mid-sized companies.
Two complementary areas of expertise serving the industry
This partnership opens up new prospects for the Vicat Group and will allow it to accelerate its industrial AI projects, develop high-value-added business solutions, pool resources, strengthen its technological expertise, and ultimately expand into new markets, especially on the international front.
On the one hand, AI in machines and on the other, AI in jobs. Together, le1817 and Araïko operate across the entire industrial value chain, from production lines to organizational structures, and from identifying use cases to scaling them up.
Founded in 2019 by Fayçal Rezgui, an industrial engineer specializing in operational transformation and innovation, and Colin Bernet, a particle physics researcher with experience at the CNRS and CERN, Araïko helps industrial SMEs and mid-cap companies with the practical integration of AI. Its focus is on business processes and organization: sharing and leveraging knowledge, upskilling teams, and redesigning ways of working, driven by KPIs that anchor every practice in measurable gains. The company relies on generative AI, specialized multi-agent systems, and data science. Araïko has 20 employees.
Established by Vicat in September 2021, le1817 is the Group's digital factory, dedicated to the digital transformation of the industry. It operates at the heart of industrial processes, on production lines and machinery: optimizing performance, saving energy and materials, and ensuring quality. Its expertise is based on embedded machine learning, advanced algorithms, data, and edge computing performed right at the equipment level. le1817 has a team of 22 employees.
A common goal: transforming AI into operational value
“Artificial intelligence and digital transformation are no longer optional for this industry: they have become drivers of competitiveness and resilience. By integrating Araïko into the Vicat Group, we are acquiring complementary, immediately available operational expertise that will accelerate our own transformation while enabling us to support industrial companies in theirs. This is just a new way of doing what Vicat has been doing for 170 years: innovating, investing for the long term, and creating value for those building the world of today and tomorrow. ”
Guy Sidos, Chairman and CEO of Vicat Group
"Our belief from the outset is simple: AI creates value in the industry only when it confronts the reality on the ground and the actual constraints of operations. By merging the Vicat Group and le1817 we are gaining a large-scale industrial foothold, in close proximity to the plants and the core businesses. For our teams, this represents a tremendous acceleration and for the industrial clients we support, it guarantees AI solutions designed to deliver concrete results rather than mere promises. ”
Fayçal Rezgui and Colin Bernet, co-founders of Araïko
With this acquisition, the Vicat Group reinforces its position at the intersection of industry, data, and artificial intelligence. In doing so, it gains the means to further accelerate its modernization, structure new services for industrial players, and contribute to the sustainable transformation of industrial sectors.
About Vicat
VICAT has been a leading industrial player in the field of mineral and bio-based building materials for 170 years. Vicat is a group listed on Euronext Paris (member of the SBF 120 index) and is majority-owned by the founding family. With the ambition of achieving carbon neutrality across its value chain by 2050, the company currently operates in three main business areas: Cement, Ready-Mix Concrete (RMC) and Aggregates, as well as complementary activities to these core businesses. Present in 12 developed and emerging countries, the cement group employs nearly 10,000 people and achieved consolidated revenue of €3.854 billion in 2025. As a company firmly rooted in the regions it serves, VICAT is developing a circular economy model that benefits everyone, innovating daily to reduce the environmental impact of construction.
Vicat media contact
Raphael Hinninger
Raphael.hinninger@vicat.fr
0761748652
Press release
