AI Intern - IFS ERP & Cloud Platform

Cegid and Silae move forward with merger that creates technology group valued at more than 10 billion euros. Link to Leaders September 9, 2026 Cegid and the French company Silae announced their intention to merge, in a transaction that should create one of the largest European business software groups, with a valuation of more than 10 billion euros. Together, the two companies serve around two million end clients and more than 15,000 accounting firms in Europe. Cegid and Silae announced their intention to move forward with a merger that should create one of the largest European technology groups in the business management software sector. The transaction combines Cegid's offering in finance, tax, human resources and retail with Silae's French platform, specialized in payroll processing and human resources management. The goal is to create an integrated platform for companies and accounting firms, bringing together accounting, tax, payments, payroll and talent management solutions. Together, Cegid and Silae support the daily accounting, tax, finance and payroll activities of 2 million end clients and more than 15,000 accounting firms, issuing more than 15 million payslips across Europe monthly. The planned transaction is expected to value the resulting group at more than 10 billion euros in enterprise value, positioning it as one of the largest software companies in France and one of the leading technology players in Europe. Cegid and Silae will bring together highly complementary skills in leading product and technology solution portfolios. The native integration between Cegid's accounting and tax tools, Shine's digital banking and finance services, and Silae's payroll and human resources management platform will allow the group to interconnect essential data, automate processes and simplify interactions between companies and their partners, including accounting firms. "Together, this offering provides business managers and their partners with simple, smarter, AI-powered tools to manage and grow their businesses collaboratively, through an integrated, reliable platform fully compliant with legislation. This will make it possible to efficiently automate all back-office financial and administrative tasks through state-of-the-art technology and innovation," explains Cegid. "The resulting group will be one of the main channels for introducing AI into European small businesses, as well as a key partner to help Portuguese SMEs respond to all electronic invoicing issues," it adds. The two companies will be able to further increase their investment in research and development - at a crucial time for the technology sector, given the emergence of AI, joining one of Europe's largest teams of software developers (with 1,400 professionals) to provide cutting-edge solutions to business clients. As part of the planned merger, Christian Pedersen has been appointed CEO of Cegid and will lead the integration of Cegid's and Silae's activities, drive the implementation of the joint offering and assume the role of CEO of the group resulting from the merger. Pedersen joins Cegid from IFS, a leading global provider of AI software. "This merger represents a significant milestone. It marks the successful culmination of a decade-long journey that we have traveled, first with Cegid and later with Silae, as well as the beginning of an even more exciting journey. Together, Cegid and Silae can offer a unique and complete set of AI-based software and products, serving SMEs and their professional consultants, who are the heart and soul of the European economy," says Christian Lucas, chairman of Cegid and Silae and managing partner of Silver Lake,

IFS to highlight Industrial AI and agentic capabilities at LEAP 2026. August 26, 2026 IFS, the leading provider of Industrial AI software announces its participation at LEAP 2026, taking place from 31 August-3 September 2026 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. IFS will demonstrate how Industrial AI creates value in work environments and supports organizations to move beyond experimentation and generic AI to achieve measurable outcomes in the real world. IFS is participating with its partner, Microsoft to showcase how the partnership enables customers to accelerate transformation on a secure and scalable technology foundation. At the event, IFS will demonstrate how AI can understand the context of complex industrial operations, support better decisions and increasingly act across workflows, helping organizations improve productivity, resilience, asset performance and service delivery. This will be highlighted with the IFS solutions portfolio at LEAP and establish how IFS AI-powered enterprise software is led by IFS.ai and IFS Cloud. Other key focus areas will be on IFS Loops and Industrial Agentic AI, Asset Lifecycle Management (ALM), Nexus Black - its strategic Industrial AI co-innovation program, IFS Zero an agentic emissions operating system, and, the breadth of IFS Cloud, spanning ERP, Enterprise Asset Management, Field Service Management, and Supply Chain capabilities. Rahul Misra, Senior Vice President & Managing Director, MEA at IFS said, "At LEAP 2026, IFS will exhibit how Industrial AI can address real operational challenges, from improving asset performance and field service productivity to optimizing planning, supply chains and complex project execution. Our participation with Microsoft further strengthens this proposition by demonstrating how the combination of IFS and Microsoft technologies can help organizations modernize operations, harness Industrial AI and accelerate measurable business outcomes. It is the perfect opportunity to engage with stakeholders that are shaping the next phase of Saudi Arabia's digital and industrial transformation." Microsoft is a strategic technology partner to IFS, underpinning the IFS Cloud platform with secure, scalable, and industry-ready cloud services. Together, IFS and Microsoft help regional customers accelerate digital transformation by combining IFS's deep industry expertise with Microsoft Azure, data, and AI capabilities. IFS's participation at LEAP is relevant in Saudi Arabia, where large-scale industrial, infrastructure, energy and transformation programs are creating demand for technology that can move beyond digitalization and deliver measurable improvements in operational execution. This brings into play IFS's focus on asset-intensive industries where complex operations, critical assets, field work and service delivery are central to business performance. Participating within the Microsoft Arabia Hub, IFS will have live demonstrations showing how IFS Industrial AI can move from insight to decision to execution across real-world operational scenarios. These include Nexus Black Resolve, IFS Asset Lifecycle Management and Field Service Management. IFS representatives will also have speaking sessions at the Microsoft Theatre (Mini Theatre) within the Microsoft Arabia Hub during LEAP 2026: * Suliman Gaouda, Regional VP, Industrial AI, IFS APJMEA will speak on 'The AI That Runs the Physical Economy' on September 1 * Hasan Sakr, Senior Presales Consultant, IFS will speak on 'Asset Lifecycle Management for Enhanced Operational Efficiency' on September 2 Senior IFS executives will be available to interact with business and technology leaders, customers, partners and organizations at the Microsoft Arabia Hub, Hall 1, Booth E30 where visitors can experience IFS Industrial AI and enterprise solutions as part of the broader Microsoft ecosystem.

Industrial workers lose 41% of their time to manual, repetitive tasks, creating a capacity gap across organisations, according to research by IFS and The Futurum Group. Companies are addressing this with AI-powered digital workers that autonomously handle operational tasks. The research found 77% of decision-makers have delayed strategic initiatives due to lack of team capacity. Two businesses are investing in digital workers for every one that isn't over the next 12 months. However, trust remains a barrier. Only 5.7% of decision-makers trust AI to act fully autonomously, though 66% plan to invest in digital workers within a year. IFS's Loops Agentic Platform automates 60% of transactions end-to-end, with 40% including human review checkpoints. Customers including Kitron Group and KLN Family Brands are using digital workers on procurement and order-to-pay workflows, reclaiming dozens of hours weekly.