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Insights from our expert panel:
Opening the discussion, Olivier Sichel, Chief Executive Officer of Caisse des Dépôts, argued that technological sovereignty cannot exist without competitive products. While open-source technologies have an important role to play, he emphasized that Europe must also focus on performance, affordability, and adoption. He highlighted the critical role of public procurement in supporting European innovation, noting that purchasing decisions made by governments and public institutions can significantly influence the success of domestic technologies. For Sichel, trust remains a key issue, particularly when sensitive data is involved, but trust alone is not enough as European solutions must also be capable of competing with the best alternatives available globally.
Building on that theme, Morgane Castanier, Director of Customers and Digital at SNCF Gares & Connexions, described AI as a new industrial revolution that is forcing organizations to rethink long-standing assumptions about value creation. She noted that many companies now face the risk of disintermediation as AI reshapes customer relationships and business models. In response, organizations must become more open to sharing data within secure ecosystems while establishing common rules and trusted governance frameworks. For Castanier, public procurement and initiatives such as IPCEIs are essential tools for helping European technology providers scale and gain access to recurring market opportunities. More broadly, she argued that Europe must learn to speak a common language, adopt common tools, and build trust-based models that allow innovation to flourish collectively.
Turning to the economics of the AI market, David Krieff, CIO of Groupe ADP, suggested that agentic AI could fundamentally reshape the platform-based business models that have dominated the digital economy for decades. As AI agents increasingly interact directly with services on behalf of users, traditional platform advantages may weaken, creating opportunities for new entrants. He challenged the notion that Europe is too small to compete, arguing instead that the current technological transition is reopening the playing field. According to Krieff, the priority should be ensuring that medium-sized European companies have access to powerful and scalable solutions capable of competing internationally.
From the perspective of an AI-native company, Igor Carron, Founder and CEO of LightOn, highlighted how rapidly the economics of AI are evolving. As computing costs continue to fall, he believes there is still significant value to be created through specialization and innovation. He pointed to LightOn’s success in developing solutions that connect large language models with enterprise documents, demonstrating that European companies can successfully compete against both American and Chinese rivals in targeted domains. Carron also emphasized the importance of open source as a mechanism for attracting talent and strengthening Europe’s engineering ecosystem.
Finally, Olivier Dellenbach, Founder and President of ChapsVision, offered a stark assessment of Europe’s digital position. While acknowledging that Europe lost the battle for cloud dominance, he argued that the continent still possesses world-class talent, strong engineering capabilities, and significant opportunities in AI. He stressed that European organizations must have greater confidence in domestic technology providers and warned that fragmented procurement practices often disadvantage local innovators. Looking ahead, he suggested that data itself may become more valuable than traditional software services, with AI systems increasingly relying on trusted, proprietary data sources to generate value. In that context, data spaces could become one of Europe’s most important strategic assets.
All in all, the discussion underscored a shared belief that Europe’s AI future will depend not only on technological innovation, but also on coordinated investment, trusted data infrastructures, supportive public procurement policies, and the willingness of organizations to collaborate at scale.
To learn more about how EONA-X is helping build these foundations through trusted data spaces and cross-sector collaboration, visit the EONA-X website and join the conversation shaping Europe’s digital future.
