Introduction to Mistral AI: Open Models and Keeping Your Data in Your Control

Most widely used AI tools are built and hosted by a single large provider, and your data is processed on that provider's infrastructure. For many organisations, not only regulated ones, that raises a practical question: where does our data actually go, and how dependent are we on one supplier?

Mistral offers a different option. Its open-weight models can run on infrastructure you choose (private cloud or your own servers), so data can stay under your control, and you are not locked into a single vendor. Its assistant, Vibe (formerly Le Chat), is a capable alternative to ChatGPT and Claude for everyday professional tasks.

This session introduces the Mistral ecosystem to professionals who want to understand their options: what Mistral is, how it compares to other tools, why deployment and data control matter, and how to use Vibe for practical everyday work.

It is relevant to any organisation that cares where its data goes: public bodies, foreign organisations operating in Europe, and private firms that simply want to avoid single-vendor lock-in. No prior AI experience is required.

• What Mistral AI is, and what 'open-weight' means in practice
• The Mistral family: Le Chat, API models, and open-weight models
• Where your data goes: deployment and data-control basics
• Hands-on with Le Chat: practical professional exercises
• How Mistral compares to ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini — a balanced view

• Explain what Mistral is and what open-weight, self-hostable models make possible
• Navigate Vibe and complete a set of practical professional tasks
• Describe, in plain terms, how deployment choice affects where data is processed
• Identify at least two situations where Mistral would be preferable to a single-vendor hosted tool

Trainer-led introduction combined with hands-on practice using Vibe. Exercises use real professional scenarios. No account setup in advance required.