When it comes to AI, Europe is home to exceptional tech talent, innovation, and world-class research. However, while AI is increasingly being deployed across European businesses and the public sector, there is still considerable scope to move from experimentation to adoption at scale, particularly among SMEs and industries considered strategically important to the economy.
Eurostat data shows that 20 per cent of EU enterprises with 10 or more employees used AI technologies in 2025, up from 13.5 per cent in 2024.
On 17 November 2026, the European Commission’s AI Office will host the Apply AI Summit in Brussels, focusing on what AI adoption means on the ground.
Around 900 people will attend in person, with up to 2,500 more joining online. The Summit will bring together startups and AI companies, investors, industry leaders, policymakers, researchers, and public-sector organisations.
The event will showcase real-world European AI use cases, particularly solutions already delivering an impact across healthcare, energy, mobility, manufacturing, agrifood, robotics, media, and public administration.
The programme will also tackle some of the broader issues that will determine how quickly Europe can scale these applications, from investment and an AI-ready workforce to infrastructure, cybersecurity, AI safety, and Frontier AI.
Crucially, the conversation will explore not only where Europe has made progress, but what still needs to happen for greater AI adoption to translate into productivity, innovation, and industrial competitiveness.
From AI ambition to adoption
The event marks the first anniversary of the European Commission’s Apply AI Strategy, as Europe works towards its ambition of becoming an “AI Continent” and a global leader in industrial AI.
The Summit also serves as the closing event of the first European AI Innovation Month, a four-week programme bringing together policymakers, industry, researchers, startups, and the public sector around AI research, innovation, and deployment. The Apply AI Strategy backs those ambitions with concrete measures designed to accelerate adoption. These include:
- More than €1.3 billion mobilised through funding calls for 2025–2027.
- Greater alignment between national AI strategies and the EU-wide Apply AI Strategy.
- A stronger European AI Innovation Ecosystem, including a network of European Digital Innovation Hubs helping SMEs across Europe adopt AI.
Together, these efforts aim to increase the adoption of trustworthy, human-centric, and innovative AI while strengthening Europe’s technological sovereignty and competitiveness.
Putting European AI startups in the spotlight
The Summit will also highlight emerging European AI companies through the Apply AI Startup Award, recognising startups and scaleups that combine strong AI technology with real market traction and the potential to become major European success stories.
The award covers strategic sectors including healthcare, robotics, manufacturing, defence, mobility, energy, climate, and agrifood. From ten finalists, three winners will pitch their technology on the main stage at the Apply AI Summit.
Who's speaking?
Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, will participate in the Summit and deliver a keynote address. Other confirmed speakers include:
- Kadi Silde, Director of European Engagement, Helsing
- Niamh Smyth, Ireland’s Minister of State for Trade Promotion, Artificial Intelligence and Digital Transformation
- Jan Oberhauser, Founder and CEO, n8n
- Thomas Lüscher, President, European Society of Cardiology
- Damien Lucas, CEO, Scaleway
- Barbara Wittenberg, CTO, 1KOMMA5°
- Marit af Björkesten, CEO, Yle
- Catholijn Jonker, Professor of Artificial Intelligence, TU Delft, Leiden University, and VU Amsterdam
- Viktoriia Yaremchuk, CEO, Farsight Vision
Discover the Apply AI Summit and register to join the conversation on the future of AI adoption across sectors in Europe.
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