Allied For Startups at the European Business Summit 2025

On 20 November, our Head of Policy, Vasco Pereira da Silva, participated in the panel “Closing the AI Gap: Accelerating Europe’s AI Startups to Win Global Competition” at European Business Summits.

Together with Manuel Marina Breysse (Cardiologist, Co-founder & CEO of IDOVEN), Martin Thelle (Partner, Implement Consulting Group), Sylwia Giepmans-Stepien (Head of Cluster, EU AI and Economic Policy, Google), and Jennifer Baker (EU Reporter) moderating the discussion, they explored how Europe can boost AI innovation and help startups and SMEs compete globally.

Europe has the talent and research to lead in AI, but we need to get much better at turning that potential into competitive, scalable companies. Other regions are adopting and commercialising AI faster, and this gap affects Europe’s productivity, competitiveness, and strategic autonomy.

During the discussion, Vasco highlighted several challenges and opportunities:

• Europe is lagging in scaling and capital. To address this, the right conditions must be created to help AI startups grow, including measures like the 28th regime, to support their success and retention in Europe.
• For more traditional businesses, skills remain a challenge – while Europe has the tools and talent, wider access and training are needed to unlock AI’s full potential.
• Implementation and must improve. Strong strategies – like the Apply AI Strategy – exist, but the EU must be stronger on execution.
• Regulation should be seen as an enabler, not a break, with simpler, proportionate rules that support innovation and growth.

Thank you to European Business Summits and Samuele Leoni for the invitation, and to the fellow panellists and moderator for the engaging discussion.