Five businesses every minute. That’s how quickly artificial intelligence is being embraced across Europe, according to AWS’s latest research report, “Unlocking Europe’s AI Potential in the Digital Decade 2025.” But beneath this headline figure lies a more complex reality — that startups and larger enterprises are approaching AI from drastically different angles, potentially creating a two-tier economy that could reshape European business for decades to come.
In a recent conversation with Tanuja Randery, vice president and managing director of AWS EMEA, I explored these findings and what they mean for businesses navigating the AI landscape. The insights reveal both tremendous opportunities and concerning challenges that demand immediate attention.
The Unprecedented Acceleration Of AI Adoption
“AI adoption has increased. The number of firms that regularly use AI has gone up to 42%,” explains Randery. “Compared to last year, that’s an increase of 27%. It’s quite a significant increase.”
What’s particularly striking is how this technological revolution compares to previous ones. As Randery notes, “We believe this has the potential to be even more transformative than [cloud]. The growth rate is surpassing that of the uptake of mobile phones that we saw in the 2000s.”
This isn’t just hype — businesses are seeing tangible benefits driving this adoption. Randery identifies three key motivations: “One, the contribution that this technology can make to efficiency and productivity. The other is innovation, really being able to innovate faster with the resources that teams have available. And then the third is, of course, a direct result of both of those, which is a contribution to growth.”
The real-world examples are compelling. BT Group deployed Amazon Q developer solution and freed up 12% of their software developers’ time previously spent on tedious coding tasks. In France, YSEOP