AI still at pilot stage for 56% of European enterprises, report reveals

Over half of Europe’s top companies have not scaled AI deployments, according to a new report. (Photo: ARMMY PICCA/Shutterstock)

Despite mounting expectations around AI as a driver of economic transformation, it has emerged that most large European firms are yet to move beyond experimentation. According to a new report by Accenture, 56% of companies with annual revenues above €1bn have not scaled any significant AI deployment across their operations, reflecting a widespread delay in turning strategic ambitions into execution.

The study surveyed 800 C-suite and data science executives from companies across multiple sectors. It estimates that aligning AI capabilities with those seen in Europe’s top-performing industries could yield an additional €198bn in annual business revenue. This figure is comparable to the GDP of a mid-sized European economy such as Hungary.

“AI provides a unique opportunity for Europe to reinvent its economy and significantly boost its competitiveness,” said Accenture EMEA CEO Mauro Macchi. “European firms are making progress but need to further leverage cloud, modernise data architecture and focus on skilling in order to scale AI faster and unleash its full potential.”

European firms trail in AI scaling compared to US counterparts

Some of Europe’s largest enterprises are beginning to implement AI at scale, the study found, with 48% of companies generating over $10bn in revenue having done so. However, the majority of smaller peers continue to lag behind, with only 31% having reached that milestone. This gap is made more critical by the structural composition of Europe’s economy, which has a higher proportion of mid-sized firms than the US.

According to the report, European companies average a score of 54 out of 100 on Accenture’s AI capability index, roughly on par with US firms. However, companies below the $10bn threshold score just 39, highlighting a substantial capability gap that correlates strongly with AI deployment levels.

Significant variation exists across sectors. Automotive (57), aerospace and defence (52), and life sciences (51) lead in AI readiness, while industries essential to infrastructure, including utilities (39), telecoms (38), and consumer goods (39), score lower. This uneven distribution may pose operational risks in areas critical to national resilience and digital infrastructure.

Geographic disparities also persist. Switzerland (52), Germany (48), the UK (47), and France (47) are home to more AI-mature companies, while Spain (40) and Italy (39) trail behind on capability development.

Lack of a cohesive data foundation remains the top barrier to scaling, cited by 42% of surveyed executives. Building multidisciplinary teams (41%) and managing security and privacy risks (33%) follow closely behind. Demonstrating measurable business value and tailoring foundation models for specific use cases were also noted as persistent challenges.

Despite high awareness of AI’s potential, as 95% of employees acknowledge its value, concerns about job displacement, data accuracy and limited access to tools continue to obstruct workplace adoption. The report revealed that 60% have anxiety over job security, and over a third say they are not adequately trained to work with AI systems.

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