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OVHcloud Confirms OVHai Workspace, an AI-Powered Alternative to Microsoft 365
An alternative to Microsoft 365 from OVHcloud? Octave Klaba says it is no longer a hypothesis, but a product that is on the way. Its name: OVHai Workspace. Here is what we know.
I came across a BFM Business video with Octave Klaba, founder and CEO of OVHcloud, and François Sorel. When asked about a potential in-house collaborative suite capable of serving as an alternative to Microsoft 365, he confirmed that it was planned: "Ce n'est pas « pourrait ». Ça va arriver. Je l'annonce dans quelques semaines. On va dévoiler OVHcloud IA Workspace : mail, visioconférence, drive et chat, boostés à l'IA".
This project is not new. In fact, on June 17, 2026, OVH Labs, the group’s innovation lab, had introduced OVHai Workspace in preview, with a beta launch planned for November. And the project appears to be moving forward, since it should be the subject of a product announcement made by OVHcloud’s CEO himself. That announcement is expected to take place at the OVHcloud AI Summit, the new name for the OVHcloud Summit, an event scheduled for November 19, 2026 at the Carrousel du Louvre in Paris.
OVHai Workspace: what OVHcloud’s suite includes
According to OVHcloud, the platform brings together the core collaborative building blocks found in Microsoft 365, all within a single interface. Most importantly, AI will be at the center of the platform, with the tools built around it. It would therefore include:
- Messaging: an area where OVHcloud is already highly established, with 1.7 million customers and more than 4 million email accounts used every day.
- Storage and video conferencing: a drive for files and an online meeting tool. Octave Klaba now adds chat, which was missing from the list presented in June.
- Search and agentic AI: a search engine paired with AI agents, capable of automating actions and finding information across multiple applications.
- End-to-end encryption: "When encryption is enabled, search and agentic AI functions run directly on the user’s computer or mobile device, allowing sensitive data to be processed locally", OVHcloud explains.
Combining end-to-end encryption with AI that scans your emails is no easy task, so OVHcloud’s choice to rely on local processing seems wise. The real question is how well it will perform on modest hardware...
A real alternative to Microsoft 365?
Microsoft 365 is not just Outlook, Teams, and OneDrive. It also includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint, and full identity management with Entra ID. There are a huge number of components in Microsoft 365, extending even to device management, whether for PCs or smartphones. It is easy to imagine that OVHcloud will not go that far, at least not right now. When people talk about an alternative to Microsoft 365, they are mainly expecting a solution that can replace the core building blocks, starting with email and video conferencing.
For office applications, OVHCloud could rely on existing solutions such as ONLYOFFICE or Euro-Office, the open source office suite I introduced in June, but OVHcloud has not announced anything in that direction. For now, OVHai Workspace looks more like a communication environment than a full office suite.
But let’s wait for November and OVHcloud’s flagship event to learn more. One thing is certain: French company OVHcloud has the capabilities to deliver such an alternative.
What do you think?
