While Europe has long positioned itself as a global leader in setting standards and regulatory frameworks for emerging technologies, momentum across the bloc is increasingly shifting toward policies that emphasise innovation, competitiveness, and real-world deployment. Against the backdrop of recent developments, including the AI Continent Action Plan, the InvestAI Facility, the new International Digital Strategy, and reports of adjustments to the AI Act, this session will take stock of Europe’s evolving AI policy landscape. 

Panellists will examine how the EU’s digital rulebook is adapting in practice, what this means for national governments, and how businesses are navigating new compliance demands while remaining globally competitive. The discussion will also explore how Europe can balance its commitments to high standards, trust, and safety with its wider ambitions for digital sovereignty, leadership in general-purpose AI, and innovation-driven growth.

• Are recent developments across the EU landscape, such as changes to the EU’s AI Act, consultation on the Apply AI Strategy, and the release of the AI Continent Action Plan and InvestAI Facility, reshaping stakeholders’ priorities and ambitions? If so, how? 
•  To what extent do changes to the AI Act affect the development of AI in Europe? What measures can regulators adopt to ensure the AI Act remains future-proof, agile, and supportive of innovation, especially as generative AI capabilities rapidly advance?
• What implications do recent developments on general-purpose AI (GPAI) hold for Europe’s broader AI strategy?
• How are AI developers and users — especially SMEs and startups — adapting to new compliance requirements while staying competitive? As the Commission proposes the Start-up and Scale-up Strategy, what are their biggest challenges, and how can Europe’s regulatory environment better support responsible scaling and innovation? 
• Given the embrace of and investment in AI by countries such as France, how are Member States interpreting and advancing their national AI strategies in line with the evolving EU frameworks?
• What does Europe’s ambition for greater digital sovereignty mean in practice for AI development? How does the new International Digital Strategy shape Europe’s role in global AI governance?
• Looking ahead, what would a ‘balanced’ AI policy landscape look like, and how can Europe position itself as a global standard-setter without falling behind in AI industry and innovation?

As AI becomes a foundational driver of innovation, productivity, and global economic development, the need for massive, scalable, robust, secure, and sustainable infrastructure is crucial to unlock AI’s full potential. From sovereign AI clouds, hyperscale data centres, supercomputing “AI factories,” and advanced connectivity, nations and companies are racing to build next-generation digital infrastructure. However, this expansion comes with significant challenges, including energy and connectivity constraints, as well as ensuring that sustainability remains a cornerstone of AI development.

This session will explore the dual pillars of AI infrastructure, both physical and digital, addressing opportunities ahead and persistent barriers from supply chain challenges, energy consumption, electricity supply, and compute scarcity, to interoperability, connectivity issues, and sovereignty concerns. It will discuss the exponential rise in demand for compute to power large-scale AI workloads, the critical need for resilient energy systems and high-speed connectivity, and the growing shift toward sovereign, locally governed AI capabilities through edge computing and decentralisation. It will examine global trends shaping AI infrastructure development, examining flagship initiatives like the US Stargate project, Europe’s sovereign AI cloud efforts (including the EuroHPC JU and the upcoming Cloud and AI Development Act) and the various AI compute zones in Asia while and ask how governments, industry leaders are investing in and coordinating the systems that will underpin future AI development in an inclusive and climate-resilient manner.

• How are flagship national and regional infrastructure strategies evolving globally? What are the most pressing short, medium, and long-term infrastructure needs for AI development?
• What is the state of global collaboration on AI infrastructure development? 
• What innovative solutions and policies are most effective in mitigating the significant energy and electricity supply challenges posed by expanding AI infrastructure, particularly given long lead times for new power generation and transmission?
• How are countries and companies balancing ambitions for AI leadership with emissions goals, energy demand, and resource constraints, and aligning their infrastructure strategies with green principles for climate-resilient growth?
• How will 5G/6G adoption impact AI infrastructure architecture, particularly for edge computing and real-time applications? What specific challenges and opportunities do advanced wireless technologies present for sovereign AI capabilities?
• How are stakeholders safeguarding physical and digital resilience, including undersea cables, and critical mineral supply chains? What is the future of high-performance computing, and how are chip supply chains shaping national strategies?
• What role do multilateral institutions play in coordinating sustainable AI infrastructure development?

As AI continues to transform economies, industries, and societies worldwide, organisations across the public and private sectors face both extraordinary opportunities and complex challenges. From boosting productivity and creating new business models to reshaping governance and public services, the promise of AI — especially with the rise of large language models (LLMs) and agentic AI systems — demands strategic vision and responsible execution.

This session will bring together key stakeholders to explore how AI is redefining operations and strategic priorities across the value chain. Panellists will share practical insights on integrating AI into real-world workflows and reflect on the organisational and cultural shifts needed to keep pace. From bridging talent gaps to balancing innovation with ethical and compliance imperatives, the discussion will highlight what it takes to future-proof organisations in an increasingly AI-driven economy — and ask: what can we truly achieve if we get this right?

• What have been the biggest operational, technical, or political challenges in adopting AI, and how are stakeholders addressing them?
• Where might AI have the most significant impact on the economy and business over the short, medium, and long term? Which industries will experience the greatest disruption, or transformation, due to AI, and why?
• What are the most immediate opportunities for organisations to integrate LLMs and agentic AI into their operations — and where are they seeing the greatest early returns? What practical steps should they take now to future-proof their workflows and fully embrace the next wave of AI technologies?
• How can businesses and organisations balance the drive for innovation with the regulatory, ethical, and compliance demands surrounding AI deployment?
• What is the role of agentic AI, and how is AI already reshaping job roles, team structures, and the skill sets needed within organisations?
• What are the unique opportunities and challenges AI presents for SMEs, and how can policy, infrastructure, and support ecosystems be adapted to ensure equitable access to AI capabilities?
• In what ways can AI be leveraged to empower workers, enhance productivity, and support talent retention rather than displacement?
• How can public sector bodies embrace the AI revolution, and how should their strategies differ from private or profit-driven actors?

While AI holds immense promise, unequal access to infrastructure, compute power, data, and skilled talent risks widening global inequalities and entrenching divides in wealth and opportunity. Accordingly, this session will examine how to democratise access to AI’s benefits and narrow the digital divide through concrete strategies and collaborative action. Panellists will discuss the importance of multilateral cooperation, regional capacity-building, and smart policy and investment to empower countries and communities to participate fully in the AI era. The conversation will also explore the potential of open-source models and other practical tools to make AI more inclusive by design. Together, the session will ask: What is needed to bridge existing gaps, expand fair participation, and embed trust, opportunity, and inclusion at the core of a global AI transition?

• What are the biggest challenges preventing equitable access to AI infrastructure, compute, data, and talent in underserved regions? What progress has been made so far, and what insights can we take from these processes? 
•  How can governments and partners work to close these gaps and ensure that all countries and communities can meaningfully participate in and benefit from AI advancements?
• What strategies are emerging to harness AI for sustainable global progress, particularly in the context of development cooperation and international partnerships?
•  What responsibilities do AI developers and industry users share in fostering an inclusive global AI ecosystem?
• How should development policy and funding mechanisms be structured to support long-term, locally tailored AI solutions?
• How can the EU and other regions ensure partnerships with the Global South avoid reinforcing digital dependency, and instead support local innovation and sovereignty?
• What is the role and value of open-source models and tools in democratising AI, lowering barriers to entry, and driving community-led innovation?

This Fireside Chat offers one of our valued partners a dedicated platform to explore a topic of their choice, sharing unique insights and sparking thought-provoking discussion with the audience. Possible topics include AI & IP and Copyrights; Green AI; AI and the future of work.

As artificial intelligence rapidly evolves and scales across sectors and borders, the need for clear, robust, and widely adopted AI standards has never been greater. Well-defined standards are critical to ensure safety, reliability, transparency, and interoperability — all while supporting innovation and fostering public trust. This session will examine how coherent technical and governance standards can help manage risks, enable responsible deployment, and set clear expectations for developers, deployers, and users alike. It will also explore how global cooperation can avoid fragmentation and ensure that standards reflect diverse perspectives and values.

• Are we making real progress towards clear and harmonised global AI standards, and why are they so critical at this stage of AI’s rapid adoption?
• As the global AI conversation increasingly shifts focus from safety to competitiveness, what risks arise if we sideline core concerns about trust and confidence in AI? What are the implications of large-scale national and supranational investments in AI infrastructure for the development and 
•  What are the principal barriers to achieving international alignment on AI governance, and how can legal, cultural, and strategic differences be bridged to foster shared standards? What issues currently exist around transparency, bias, privacy, data misuse, ethical AI deployment, intellectual property, freedom of expression and legal accountability?
• How can governments and organisations implement AI practices that drive innovation while maintaining public trust and confidence? 
• What specific roles should multilateral and bilateral bodies play in shaping global AI standards, and how can they foster cooperation rather than fragmentation?
• What responsibilities do private companies carry in developing, adopting, and promoting robust standards for trustworthy AI?
• Moving forward, are there insights that we can draw from other domains (e.g., cybersecurity, data privacy, telecom) in developing and enforcing AI standards?

As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly embedded in global systems, governance remains a question both urgent and unresolved; and while many advance their own regulatory approaches, the broader landscape remains fragmented, with global coordination still in its infancy. Yet, as key concerns over regulatory divergence, safety gaps, and competitive imbalance emerge, geopolitical competition and the ongoing AI race threatens potential cooperation. As digital sovereignty, export controls, and technology tariffs increasingly define AI geopolitics, this session will ask: Can meaningful international alignment on AI governance be achieved? Can purposeful global cooperation persist amid intensifying strategic competition? And what role can shared principles, multilateral institutions, and strategic diplomacy play in preventing a deepening global AI divide?

• What is the impact of geopolitics on AI development, investment, and deployment? Is purposeful global cooperation possible in an era of strategic competition and technological rivalry?
• How are leading global powers, like the U.S., China, and the EU, approaching AI investment and governance, and what do these approaches reveal about broader geopolitical goals? What role can emerging AI powers like Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and others play in this effort? 
• How are export controls, tariffs, and licensing regimes impacting innovation and influencing global power dynamics?
•  How can countries balance national security interests with the global need for open scientific exchange and shared research on AI safety and alignment?
• What role should multilateral organisations play in fostering trust, transparency, and interoperability across the AI ecosystem?
• How can international norms be developed to govern general-purpose AI and foundation models responsibly?
• What responsibilities do private companies and AI developers have in navigating geopolitical pressures while upholding ethical deployment, transparency, and societal benefit?