When France draws the line: Microsoft under French Antitrust scrutiny in Europe’s digital landscape

France has reemerged as a battleground for digital competition. The Autorité de la concurrence is considering whether Microsoft degraded the quality of search results for smaller engines that rely on Bing for aggregation, effectively disadvantaging rivals. If French regulators decide not to pursue the investigation, as some internal signals suggest, this case will nonetheless serve as a test of how far national authorities are willing to go to regulate the underpinning layers of digital ecosystems.

Although Microsoft is not dominant in general-purpose search (where Google leads), its role in search syndication is material, as it can impose terms on smaller search providers. This raises broader questions of interoperability, platform leverage, and discriminatory access. For European tech firms, the implications are twofold: first, it underscores how “alternative” services may still be dependent on large platforms; and second, it signals that national regulators (not just Brussels) may become frontline players in enforcing fairness in digital supply chains.

In the medium term, we may see increased pressure for rules on algorithmic nondiscrimination, mandated transparency of ranking logic, and new obligations for interoperability even deep in tech stacks. Companies should begin stress-testing their API agreements, licensing models, and syndication dependencies now, considering scenarios in which regulators order forced decoupling or open interfaces.

TREND TRACKER

Abundance / Autonomy / Abstraction as a new tech paradigm

IA new paradigm is ascending in technology strategy: abundance, abstraction, autonomy. The three pillars capture the shift from scarcity-bound architectures to systems built on plentiful compute/data, interfaces that hide complexity, and agents/systems that act independently. “Abundance” denotes how digital infrastructure and AI are driving down cost and time of system creation; “abstraction” enables technology to be more accessible by hiding complexity behind simplified interfaces; and “autonomy” points toward systems that anticipate, act and adapt with minimal human direction.

This paradigm is reshaping product design, platform strategy, and organizational expectations. For example, developer tools shift from libraries to intent-based agents; user interfaces evolve from menus to conversational or agentic control; and system architectures lean toward self-healing, adaptive layers. The implications are profound: business models must move from feature licensing to autonomous service delivery; talent models must evolve for oversight, orchestration and trust; and governance must catch up to handle systems making decisions. In this frame, winners will be those who master the coordination between abundant infrastructure, abstracted access, and safe autonomy.

Want to learn more?

• Infosys - Abundance, Abstraction, and Autonomy – Pillars of Future Technology

• Oxford Academic - What Constitutes Experiences of Autonomy in Digital Technology Use? A (Computational) Scoping Review Through the Lens of Self-Determination Theory

• Next - Is AI the new digital?

QUICK INSIGHT

Plugin + Core model for digital infrastructure

To increase agility and minimize risk in evolving tech systems, adopting a plugin + core architecture helps separate a stable central backbone (“core”) from modular, experimentable extensions (“plugins”). This allows innovation without threatening systemic stability.

Concrete steps:

• Define a minimal core layer; it should include essential services (data model, API routing, identity, security, logging, compliance).

• Design plugin interfaces that allow independent modules (e.g. feature experiments, AI models, UI variants) to attach or detach cleanly.

• Establish contracts and versioning at interface boundaries: clear APIs, SLAs, validation rules, backward compatibility.

• Build fallback and rollback mechanisms so that plugins can be disabled or replaced without affecting core operations.

• Create a governance framework (e.g. a “sandbox plugin team”) to vet, monitor, and promote plugins over time—some may graduate into the core if proven stable.

WHO IS BABINI MAZZARI

Our Value Proposition

Babini Mazzari is the strategic IT partner for European companies looking to navigate digital transformation in a structured, pragmatic, and sustainable way.
We don’t just deliver technical solutions - we work as an extension of your internal team, helping you integrate systems, optimize processes, and lead change with clarity and competence.

Our approach is built on listening, transparency, and a strong results-driven culture. Whether you're scaling, modernizing, or rethinking your operating model, we support every client with the right tools, clear methodology, and long-term vision.
Above Technology. Beyond Solutions.

📎 [Our services]
📎 [Our Manifesto]