Artificial Intelligence in Europe - Belgium & Luxembourg Outlook for 2019 and Beyond - Microsoft

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Artificial
Intelligence
in Europe
Belgium & Luxembourg
Outlook for 2019 and Beyond

How 277 Major Companies Benefit from AI
R E P O R T CO M M I S S I O N E D BY M I C R O S O F T A N D CO N D U C T E D BY E Y
Contents
                                                                                                                                                                     Preface
                                                                                                                                                                     Foreword  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 06
                                                                                                                                                                     Executive Summary - ‘At a Glance’ .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  08

                                                                                                                                                                     Setting the Scene
                                                                                                                                                                     About this Report  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .              10
                                                                                                                                                                     Rich Data  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .       13
                                                                                                                                                                     Executive Perspective .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .                 14
                                                                                                                                                                     Participating Companies .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .                     16
                                                                                                                                                                     Bits & Bytes  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .       18
                                                                                                                                                                     Follow the Money  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .               20
                                                                                                                                                                     Case Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                                                  22
                                                                                                                                                                     Experts .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .    23

                                                                                                                                                                     Role of AI in European Business
                                                                                                                                                                     A Strategic Agenda  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  27
                                                                                                                                                                     Among Friends .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  28
                                                                                                                                                                     Push or Pull  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  29
                                                                                                                                                                     Ready, Set... .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  30
                                                                                                                                                                     AI Maturity Curve  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  32
                                                                                                                                                                     State Your Business .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 34
                                                                                                                                                                     Case Study  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 36

                                                                                                                                                                     Business Benefits and Risks
                                                                                                                                                                     Another World .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  38
                                                                                                                                                                     AI Here, There, Everywhere .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 40
                                                                                                                                                                     Case Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
                                                                                                                                                                     Use it or Lose it .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  42
                                                                                                                                                                     Making AI simple  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  44
                                                                                                                                                                     Case Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
                                                                                                                                                                     Sector Benefits Landscape .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  48
                                                                                                                                                                     Risky Business  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  51

                                                                                                                                                                     Learn from the Leaders
                                                                                                                                                                     Capabilities  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  53
                                                                                                                                                                     AI Competency Model  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  55
                                                                                                                                                                     Advanced Analytics  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  56
                                                                                                                                                                     Data Management  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 58
                                                                                                                                                                     AI Leadership  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 60
                                                                                                                                                                     Open Culture  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  62
                                                                                                                                                                     Emerging Technology  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 64
Disclaimer                                                                                                                                                           Agile Development  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  66
This report has been prepared by Ernst & Young LLP in accordance with           This report does not constitute a recommendation or endorsement by Ernst             External Alliances  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  68
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2                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             3
AI is driving significant change in business
    and society as it increasingly becomes a part
    of everyone’s lives. Businesses must adjust as
    entire industries are reshaped due to AI. It is
    interesting to see in Luxembourg and Belgium
    that these adjustments are being driven not
    by the IT departments, but by leaders on
    the business side who are clearly seeing the
    great potential for AI technology to help their
    companies advance.

    —Harry Shum, Executive Vice President of
     Microsoft AI and Research Group
4                                                 5
Preface                                                                                                                                                                   Preface

Foreword

          Human Ingenuity                                                                  Technology for Humans

                                                                                           The rise of artificial intelligence is unstoppable. I believe its evolution
          The printing press, the automobile & the Internet are just a few technolog-
                                                                                           should not be hindered, despite its potential to have a profound impact on
          ical achievements that have advanced our world. All were driven by human
                                                                                           jobs - including mine.
          ingenuity: our innate creativity that inspires us to learn, imagine & explore.
          This spirit is what pushes us to challenge the boundaries of the possible to
                                                                                           Technology has always impacted the way we do business. A little less than
          go ever forward.
                                                                                           two centuries ago, Belgium saw an opportunity in the development of rail-
                                                                                           roads. Some jobs disappeared or changed, other jobs and industries arose.
          Today, AI is helping to amplify our human ingenuity, opening up exciting
                                                                                           Belgium created a regulatory environment and became a world leader in
          new possibilities for how intelligent technology can shape our world. At
                                                                                           coal mining and iron production.
          Microsoft, our goal is to democratize access to AI for everyone through in-
          novative & powerful platforms, & above all, we’re focused on ensuring that
                                                                                           History always repeats itself. Consequently, I believe that countries and
          our AI tools & technologies are deployed responsibly & earn people’s trust.
                                                                                           companies embracing AI will clearly create a competitive advantage and
                                                                                           will grow at a faster pace than those who resist it. You will read in the
          And yet, we realize that AI is one of the lesser understood modern tech-
                                                                                           report that companies in Belgium & Luxembourg are already laying the
          nological break-throughs. Many questions remain. How are companies
                                                                                           foundations for the future, conducting pilot projects or releasing AI appli-
          applying this technology to empower employees, engage with customers,
                                                                                           cations for their daily operations.
          transform their business and optimize their operations? Where are they
          seeing benefits, and what are their blockers?
                                                                                           At Microsoft we believe in AI-driven technology that puts people at the
                                                                                           center. I hope this report may inspire you to use AI to be even more cus-
          To provide answers, Microsoft commissioned this study to understand the
                                                                                           tomer centric, transform your products and services, optimize your pro-
          AI strategy of major companies across 7 sectors & 15 countries in Europe.
                                                                                           cesses and inspire your employees. We look forward to working with you
          It examines these companies’ readiness to adopt AI, how they rate the im-
                                                                                           to create artificial intelligence that truly augments human capabilities.
          pact and benefits from AI implementations, and what they perceive as risks
          & keys to success.

          We hope you find these insights inspirational for your own journey toward
          adopting AI & realizing its benefits for amplifying human ingenuity.

          Vahé Torossian
                                                                                           Didier Ongena
          President, Microsoft Western Europe

6                                                                                                                                                                              7
Preface                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Preface

At a Glance
                                                                                                                                       Noticeable potential for AI in many            Companies in Belgium and Luxembourg beginning to explore
                                                                                                                                       corporate functions                            possibilities with AI
                                                                                                                                       The most widely reported adoption of           When looking across the 21 companies that have participated in the
                                                                                                                                       AI (47%) was in the IT/Technology func-        study in Belgium and Luxembourg, it is clear that they are actively ex-
                                                                                                                                       tion, followed by R&D with 36%, and            ploring and pursuing possibilities with AI, with their current maturity
                                                                                                                                       customer service with 24%. Interestingly,      roughly on level with their European peers. More companies from
                                                                                                                                       several functions are hardly using AI at       Belgium and Luxembourg report that AI is currently an important topic
                                                                                                                                       all; most notably, the procurement func-       to their C-suite than the European aggregate and 90% report that AI is
While the hype of artificial intelligence    Most impact expected from ‘opti-            is almost as much as AI is expected to
                                                                                                                                       tion, where only 4% of the companies           at least as important as other digital priorities, if not more important.
(AI) and its potential role as a driver of   mizing operations’, with ‘engaging          impact the core of these companies’ cur-
                                                                                                                                       currently use AI, followed by HR with 7%       Expected impact is high as well: the vast majority of companies from
transformational change to businesses        customers’ as a close second                rent business with 65% expecting AI to
                                                                                                                                       and product management with 9%. This           Belgium and Luxembourg report expecting AI to create some degree of
and industries is pervasive, there are       89% of the respondents expect AI to         have a high or a very high impact on the
                                                                                                                                       is perhaps surprising, given the many          impact across all business areas – core, adjacent and new.
limited insights into what companies         generate business benefits by optimiz-      core business. With AI presumably push-
                                                                                                                                       use cases and applicable solutions in
are actually doing to reap its benefits.     ing their companies’ operations in the      ing companies into totally new domains
                                                                                                                                       these functional areas.
This report aims at getting a deeper         future. This is followed by 74% that ex-    in the future, it is perhaps not surprising
understanding of how companies cur-          pect AI to be key to engaging custom-       that AI is receiving attention as a key
                                                                                                                                                                                        What sets the most ‘AI mature’
                                                                                                                                       8 key capabilities that are most im-
rently manage their AI activities, and       ers by enhancing the user experience,       topic for executive management.
                                                                                                                                       portant ‘to get AI right’
                                                                                                                                                                                        companies apart?
how they address the current challeng-       tailoring content, increasing response
es and opportunities ahead.                                                              Very few of the 277 companies con-            When asking the respondents to rank
                                             speed, adding sentiment, creating
                                                                                         sider themselves “advanced” with AI           the importance of 8 capabilities to ena-
                                             experiences, anticipating needs, etc.
To get to the heart of this agenda, we                                                                                                 ble AI in their businesses, ‘advanced ana-       They expect AI will be beneficial in ‘empowering employees’ (76%
                                                                                         Despite the apparent sizable impact that
received input from AI leaders in 277                                                                                                  lytics’ and ‘data management’ emerged            of ‘more mature’ companies* vs. 42% of ‘less mature’ companies)*.
                                             C-suite respondents scored ‘engaging        companies expect from AI, only a very
companies, across 7 sectors and 15                                                                                                     as the most important. ‘AI leadership’
                                             customers’ highest of the AI benefit        small proportion of companies, consti-
countries in Europe, via surveys and/or                                                                                                and having an ‘open culture’ followed.           They report using a combination of structured and unstructured
                                             areas. Noticeably, 100% of the most ad-     tuting 4% of the total sample, self-re-
interviews. Below is the brief summary       vanced* companies expect AI will help       port that AI is actively contributing to                                                       data for AI (65% of ‘more mature’ companies vs. 15% of ‘less mature’
of what they had to say.                                                                                                               When self-assessing the capabilities             companies), and data from both internal and external sources (68%
                                             them engage customers, compared to          ‘many processes in the company and
                                                                                                                                       where the companies are least com-               of ‘more mature’ companies vs. 16% of ‘less mature’ companies).
                                             only 63% of the less mature companies.      enabling quite advanced tasks today’
AI is a “hot topic” - but more so on                                                                                                   petent, they point to emotional intelli-
                                             Using AI to ‘transform products and         (referred to as ‘most advanced’ in this
C-level than in daily operations                                                                                                       gence and AI leadership - defined as the         They expect AI will help them ‘engage customers’ (85% of ‘more
                                             services’ comes out slightly lower with     report).
                                                                                                                                       (lack of) ability to lead an AI transfor-        mature’ companies vs. 59% of ‘less mature’ companies).
71% of the companies respond that            65%, and ‘empowering employees’
                                                                                                                                       mation by articulating a vision, setting
AI is considered an important topic          the lowest with 60% of the companies        Another 28% are in the ‘released’ stage
                                                                                                                                       goals and securing broad buy-in across           They see AI predominately being driven from a combination of
on the executive management level.           expecting AI-generated benefits in          where they have put AI selectively to ac-
                                                                                                                                       the organization.                                technology push and business pull (61% of ‘more mature’ compa-
This is significantly higher than on         that area.                                  tive use in one or a few processes in the
the non-managerial / employee level                                                      company. The majority, 51% of compa-                                                           nies vs. 32% of ‘less mature’ companies).
                                                                                                                                       To summarize, the challenge ahead
where AI is only considered an impor-        AI is expected to impact entirely           nies, are still only planning for AI or are
                                                                                                                                       appears to be as much about culture and
tant topic in 28% of the companies.          new business areas in the future            in early stage pilots. 7% of companies
                                                                                                                                       leadership as it is about data, analytics,       * ‘More mature’ defined as companies that self-ranked as 4 or 5 on the maturity
Interestingly, Board of Directors also       57% of the companies expect AI to           are self-rated as least mature, indicating                                                     5-scale, and ‘less mature’ defined as companies that self-ranked as 1 or 2.
                                                                                                                                       and technology.
came out lower with ‘only’ 38% of            have a high impact or a very high im-       that they are not yet thinking about AI at
respondees reporting that AI is impor-       pact on business areas that are “entirely   this stage.
tant to their board.                         unknown to the company today”. This

          Only   4%
                                                Percentage of companies
                                                 that are still only in the
                                               planning or piloting stages:
                                                                                                        71%
                                                                                                   of the companies
                                                                                                                                                  57%
                                                                                                                                               of the companies
                                                                                                                                                                                    Share of companies that use
                                                                                                                                                                                      acquisitions as a way to                                    80%
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            of the most mature
                                                                                                                                                                                       obtain AI capabilities:

                                                         61%                                                                                                                              10%
of the companies are actively                                                              respond that AI is considered               expect AI to have a high impact                                                                 companies expect that AI
 using AI in ‘many processes                                                                ‘an important topic’ on the                  on ‘business areas that are                                                                      will be beneficial by
and to enable advanced tasks’                                                              executive management level                     entirely unknown today’                                            only                      ‘empowering employees’

8                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              9
Setting the Scene                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Setting the Scene

About this Report
What’s new?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not new.   in AI, what they are investing in, and      efit areas, how mature companies are      Straight from the executives               Contributions from open-minded
It has existed for decades: processing     how they are managing the compli-           in terms of adoption, and examining                                                  and collaborative companies
                                                                                                                                 Where this report and extensive da-
voice to text or language translation;     cated process of adopting this new          self-reported competence levels re-       taset adds new insights is primarily       We are extremely thankful for the time
real-time traffic navigation; dynami-      technology and deriving value across        garding the capabilities required to      into how leading companies are ap-         and effort the many executives have
cally serving targeted advertisements      business opportunities.                     succeed when implementing AI.             proaching AI on a very practical level.    put into participating in interviews and
based on personal data and browsing                                                                                              We hear straight from executives how       providing data for this study. We’re par-
history; predicting trends and guiding     Perspectives, experiences, self-            From the aggregate dataset we have        their companies are addressing cur-        ticularly appreciative of their willing-    We are certainly working with
investment decisions in financial in-      assessment, and benchmarks                  been able to determine some bench-        rent challenges, and how they apply AI     ness to openly share experiences and
                                                                                                                                                                                                                        AI. At some point it has to
stitutions. The current developments       From new surveys, interviews and case       marks across the covered markets,         to unlock new value pockets.               provide their perspectives on where
have been fueled by an exponential                                                     which we compare the individual                                                      the future is heading within AI.            become the hub on which we
                                           studies gathered from approximately
rise in computing power, increasing        277 companies, we provide a snapshot        country with throughout the report.       Based on the many interviews con-                                                      are running.
accessibility and sophistication of pow-   of the current state of AI in 15 European   The report also covers a full spectrum    ducted, this report reveals some clear     While this indicate a general interest in
erful algorithms, and an explosion in      markets. This includes analyzing AI’s       of industry groups which tend to reveal   excitement and immense potential for       the AI topic, it also speaks to the in-
                                                                                                                                                                                                                        — TomTom
the volume and detail of data available    relative importance on the strategic        interesting insights.                     using AI to bring new, improved prod-      creasingly collaborative approach
                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Navigation solutions
to feed AI’s capabilities.                 agenda, its expected impact and ben-                                                  ucts and services to market, create        many leading companies are taking
                                                                                                                                                                                                                          company
                                                                                                                                 exceptional experiences for customers      when entering new technology do-
Reality vs. hype                                                                                                                 and employees, and create ways to          mains and embarking on journeys
                                                                                                                                 operate that enhance performance           into unknown territories.
Only recently started to see more
widespread, scaled adoption of AI                                                                                                across the board.
across sectors, value chains and eco-
systems. Yet AI technology is quickly                                                                                            We learned that regardless of which
approaching a point where it is be-                                                                                              use cases the companies pursue and
coming a critical element in enabling                                                                                            the role that AI currently has, taking a
companies across sectors to drive                                       AI will change how the game is                           strategic outlook to assess the implica-
revenue, increase profits and remain                                    played. Whether it is from an industry                   tions for the business and responding
competitive.                                                                                                                     accordingly are increasingly seen as
                                                                        perspective, a consumer perspective or
                                                                                                                                 crucial for any executive agenda.
                                                                        employee perspective, it will disrupt the
We hear many people in numerous
companies talk about AI. While the                                      industry.
hype is pervasive, not a lot of people
fully understand its technological                                      — Alpro
potential, where it can create value or                                   Food company
how to get started. This report aims at
providing a practical understanding of
why European companies are investing

10                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       11
Artificial intelligence in Europe                                                                                                                                   Setting the Scene

                                                    Rich Data
                                                    Which sources of information is the study based on?

We believe the biggest disruption from AI
begins at, for example, being able to drive         This report combines multiple sources
                                                    of data to answer the questions of why,
                                                                                                 We also present case studies of specific
                                                                                                 companies, both local and internation-
                                                                                                                                             Recognizing and mitigating
                                                                                                                                             potential survey and interview bias

a self-driving car. Will there be need for          where and how AI is currently being used
                                                    in business. It provides an inside view
                                                                                                 al, to provide an understanding of what
                                                                                                 they are doing with AI and why, draw-
                                                                                                                                             In terms of methodology, this report
                                                                                                                                             follows robust research design and

personal insurance, if all cars are self-driving?
                                                    across markets and sectors. It combines      ing on lessons learned and obstacles to     protocol. Doing so minimizes potential
                                                    local and pan-European views, and adds       overcome when putting AI to use for         bias, but does not eliminate it, as it
                                                    value through a quantitative perspective     specific use cases and to derive value      is inevitable in market research. One
                                                    on how advanced companies are with           on a strategic level.                       potential type is social desirability
                                                    AI, and a qualitative perspective on how                                                 and conformity bias, as the topic of
                                                                                                 Proprietary AI investment data
— Ageas Insurance company
                                                    to develop the skills required to succeed                                                AI receives lots of media and political
                                                    with AI. We have received input from         We have supplemented the prima-             attention. Response bias, including
                                                    over 300 people from 277 participating       ry source input from the companies          extreme responding, cultural bias, and
                                                    companies. This has resulted in a range of   with acquisition data from numerous         acquiescence bias (“yea-saying”), are
                                                    interviews and case studies as well as 269   sources, to take the pulse of the AI        potential factors as we ask respondents
                                                    company responses to our survey.             investment market in Europe. These          to self-report on their respective com-
                                                                                                 insights help provide a picture of the      panies’ experience. Therefore, while
                                                    Extensive online survey data from            wider European AI ecosystem and its         this report follows best practices, some
                                                    business leaders in 269 companies            development.                                bias is possible.
                                                    We have surveyed people with a leading
                                                    role in managing the AI agenda in all the    AI expert perspectives                      Nonetheless, with the combination of
                                                    companies that have contributed to the       With this wider understanding of AI         extensive survey data, interview data,
                                                    study. This gives us an aggregate dataset    start-up acquisitions, partnerships, and    investment data, and expert perspec-
                                                    that enables a perspective for each mar-     investment funding, we outline how          tives, we believe the report provides a
                                                    ket and each sector, as well as compara-     investments in AI are skyrocketing,         solid foundation for an indispensable

Use cases where we got the best results were
                                                    tive insights for the respective company     where AI investment is taking place         view of executive experience with –
                                                    types, sectors, and countries in Europe.     geographically, and which sectors are       and future plans for – AI in business.

when we had a strong lead on the business
                                                                                                 making bets. As we are on the cusp of
                                                    Qualitative in-depth interviews with         widespread change driven by AI, we
                                                    senior business executives                   also reached out to AI experts from

side to coordinate the work and act as ‘data        In addition, we conducted deep-dive
                                                    interviews to gain deeper, qualitative
                                                                                                 academia for an outlook of AI technol-
                                                                                                 ogies going mainstream, and to gain

translators’ between the data scientists and
                                                    insights into how AI is affecting the ex-    an understanding of the macro scale
                                                    ecutive agenda. Through conversations        of business effects that they expect will
                                                    with business leaders, we report on          materialize when looking into a distant

their own colleagues.                               where they expect AI will have an impact,
                                                    how important AI is to their current and
                                                                                                 future.

                                                    future business strategies, what benefits
                                                    they hope to realize from implementing
                                                    AI, and which capabilities they believe

— Proximus Telecommunications company               are key to advance AI maturity in their
                                                    companies.

12                                                                                                                                                                                13
Setting the Scene                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Setting the Scene

Executive Perspective
                                                                                                                                                       Large group of respondents                                                                                                                                        Surveyed companies are well represented across
Who are the respondents that have contributed to the study?                                                                                            with a specific AI/digital role                                                                                                                                   each of the 15 European markets
                                                                                                                                                       Organizational function of respondents                                                                                                                            Number of online surveyed companies per country
                                                                                                                                                       in the online survey

The data approach used allows us to            Functional diversity                              A combined annual revenue
identify trends across industries and          The respondents cover very different              of $2.3 trillion
countries based on input from various          functions, of which the most common               Participants come from both major

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            N e th
functional business areas. Consequent-         are designated AI/digital department,             listed companies, privately held com-                    67

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             erlan

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         nd
ly, we have captured a range of in-            followed by IT, and strategy/general              panies, and in some case relatively small

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Ir e l a
sights, learnings, and perspectives from

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               ds
                                               management functions. This functional             companies. In totality, they represent a                                   60
both strategic and technical points of         diversity increases the breadth of the            combined revenue of approximately

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                N

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     en
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    or

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  ed
view.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         w
                                               report, with insights and perspectives            $2.3 trillion. Despite covering a signifi-

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Sw
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             ay

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     22

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   20
                                               covering widely different aspects of AI.          cant part of total European business, our                                                                 45
Respondents predominantly in                                                                     selection criteria have also favored more

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  20
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      21
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               D e nm                                                                                                                             an d
senior level positions                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  ar k                                                                                                             ze r l
                                               Surveyed companies span                           niche oriented companies with extensive                                                                                           39                                                                                                                                                                                                          Swit
To ensure that these insights and per-         multiple sectors                                  AI experience and capabilities.                                                                                                                                 27
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                25                                                           20
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  26
spectives are relevant at the executive
level, we surveyed and interviewed
                                               The participating companies are spread                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  269
                                               fairly evenly across seven sectors, with            Primarily listed companies                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        online survey
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                21                                                           20
high-ranking officers with a responsi-         the majority of companies belonging                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    companies                                                        Italy
                                                                                                   represented in data from                                                                                                                                                                                                    Austria                                                  in total
bility for driving the AI agenda in their      to Industrial Products & Manufactur-                                                                                                                                                                                                                               5
                                                                                                   Belgium and Luxembourg
respective companies. With 60% of              ing, followed by Financial Services, and                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 22
                                                                                                   The vast majority of respondents                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  22
respondents being either part of top           Transportation, Energy & Construction.
management or the executive man-                                                                   in Belgium and Luxembourg are                                                                                                                                                                                                                         l                                                                             Fin
                                               Services and Life Science are represented                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            ga

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          15
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             20
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             lan
                                                                                                   major listed companies or compa-                                                                                                                                                                                                            tu

                                                                                                                                                          Digital/AI

                                                                                                                                                                                                   General Management, Strategy
                                                                                                                                                                           General IT/Technology

                                                                                                                                                                                                         & Business Development

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  R&D & Product Management

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Customer Service & Marketing

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Admin & Finance

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Other

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            21
agement team, their input is likely well                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   r                                                                                                       d
                                               to a lesser extent.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Po
attuned to the general perspective and                                                             nies privately held by foundations.
                                                                                                   All the participating companies in

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Un ce & G
overall strategic direction of the com-

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      ain

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Fra
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     ite
                                                                                                   Belgium and Luxembourg had a

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Sp
panies they represent.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Luxenbourg
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Belgium &

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        n
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         dK
                                                                                                   combined total annual revenue of

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            i n g m a ny
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 do
                                                                                                   over $241 billion in 2017.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 er

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    m,
More than 300 participants                              Majority hold a top management or executive position
Number of participants interviewed                      Organisational level of person participating in the study
and/or online surveyed in the study
                                                                                                                                                       Seven major sectors covered in the study
                                                                                                                                                       Representation of participating companies per sector category
       26 of +300
 are Belgian & Luxembourg companies
                                                        C-suite/Executive                           27%
                                 +                                                                                                                                                                                                9%                                                                                      21%                                                        17%                                                                7%
                                                                                                                           48%

                                                        Top Management                                                                                         Life Science                                                                                                                            Industrial Products                                        Finance                                                  Services
                                                        (non-executive)                      33%                                                         Pharmaceutical, Healthcare,                                                                                                                     Manufacturing,                                      Banking, Insurance,                                    Professional Services,
                                                                                                                                                                  Biotech                                                                                                                              Materials, Equipment                                     Investments                                       Hospitality, Public Services,
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Membership Organization
                                                                                                                                   29%

                                                        Management
                                                        Level                         37%                                                                                                                                         13%                                                                                     16%                                                        17%
                                                                                                                                            19%
                                                        Employee
                                                        (non-managerial level)   3%                                                                                          CPR                                                                                                                        TMT                                              Infrastructure
                                                                                                                                                  5%                   Consumer Products                                                                                                             Technology,                                     Transportation, Energy,
                                                                                                                                                                            & Retail                                                                                                        Media/Entertainment & Telecom                           Construction, Real Estate
     15 European markets         Belgium & Luxembourg                                       15 European markets      Belgium & Luxembourg

14                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   15
Setting the Scene                                                                                                                                                                                       Setting the Scene

277 Companies                                                                                   Indie Campers, Intesa Sanpaolo, ISDIN, ISS, Jansen AG, Julius Baer,
                                                                                                Katoen Natie, KBC Group, Kemira, Kingspan Group, KLP Banken,
                                                                                                Komplett, Kongsberg Gruppen, LafargeHolcim, LanguageWire,
                                                                                                LEGO, LEO Pharma, Lerøy Seafood, Liga Portugal, L’Occitane, Lonza,
A.P. Moller - Maersk, Acciona, Adamant-Namiki of Europe, Aegon,                                 L’Oreal, Lusíadas Saúde, Luz Saúde, Länsförsäkringar, MAPFRE,
Aena, Ageas, Agfa-Gevaert, Agrifirm Group, Ahlstrom-Munksjö,                                    Merkur Versicherung, Metall Zug , Metro, Metso, M-Files, Millicom,
AIB, AkzoNobel, Almirall, Alpro, ALSA, Amadeus, AMAG, Ambea,                                    Mota-Engil, Mutua Madrileña Automovilista, Møller Mobility Group,
APM Terminals, Aprila Bank, Arcelor Mittal, Ardagh Group,                                       Neste, NH Hotel Group, Nilfisk, Nokia Corporation, NorgesGruppen,
Arval BNP Paribas Group, Asiakastieto Group, Assa Abloy,                                        Norstat,     Novabase,    Novartis,    Novo     Nordisk,     Novozymes,
Assicurazioni Generali, Atea, Audi, Austrian Airlines, Austrian                                 Now TV, OBI, Oesterreichische Nationalbank, OP Financial Group,
Federal Computing Centre, Autogrill, BAM Group, Barco, BASF,                                    Opportunity Network, Orion, Paddy Power Betfair, Peltarion,
BAWAG P.S.K, Baxter, BBVA, Besix, Bolloré, BTG, BUWOG, C&C                                      Pernod Ricard, PFA, Philips, Planeta DeAgostini, Poste Italiane,
Group, Campbells International, Capio, Carmeuse, Carnival                                       Posti, PostNord, Proximus, Pöyry, Rabobank, Raiffeisen Software,
UK, CEiiA, Cermaq, Chr. Hansen, Cirsa, City of Amsterdam,                                       Raiffeisen Switzerland, Ramada Investimentos SA, Randstad, Rexel,
Colruyt Group, Com Hem, Combient, Comifar Distribuzione,                                        ROCKWOOL Group, Room Mate Hotels, Royal College of Surgeons in
Constitutional Court of Austria, Coolblue, COOP Nederland,                                      Ireland, S Group, Saipem, Saint Gobain, Sakthi Portugal, Salsa, Saxo Bank,
Cosentino Group, Costa Crociere, Credit Suisse, Crédito Agrícola,                               Sbanken, SBB Swiss Federal Railways, Schindler, SEB, SGS,
DAF Trucks, Danfoss, Danske Bank, Dawn Meats, DFDS, DNA,                                        Siemens Mobility, SimCorp, Skandia, Solvay, Sonae, Sonae Arauco,
DNB, DSM, DSV, Dümmen Orange, Dynamic ID, DAA, Edison,                                          SpareBank 1 SMN, SpareBank 1 Østlandet, Sportmaster, Statkraft,
EDP - Energias de Portugal, Egmont, EQT, Ericsson, Erste Group                                  Stedin, Steyr Mannlicher, Stora Enso, Styria Marketing Services, Suomen
Bank, ESB, ESIM Chemicals, Esprinet, Europac, Fazer, FDJ,                                       Terveystalo, Swedbank, Swisscom, Taylor Wimpey, TDC, Teamwork,
Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology MeteoSwiss, Ferrovial,                            Telefónica, Telekom Austria, Telenor Global Shared Services, Telia,
Fexco, Finnair, Fortum, Galp, Geberit, Genalice, Generali Versicherung,                         Tesco, Tetra Pak, The Navigator Company, TIM, Tine, Tokmanni ,
GetVisibility, Gjensidige Forsikring, Glen Dimplex Group, Globalia,                             TomTom, Tryg, TTS Group, TVH, Ubimet, UDG Healthcare, UniCredit,
GN Store Nord, GrandVision, Grupo Antolin, Grupo Ascendum,                                      Unilin, UPM, Vaisala, Valmet, Valora Group, Van Lanschot, Vattenfall,
Grupo Codere Cablecom, Grupo Juliá, Grupo Nabeiro – Delta Cafés,                                Version 1, Visana, Vodafone Automotive, VodafoneZiggo, Voestalpine
Grupo Pestana, Grupo Visabeira, GSK, GAA, H. Lundbeck, Hafslund,                                High Performance Metals, WABCO, WALTER GROUP, Western Bulk,
Handelsbanken, Hera, Hostelworld, Husqvarna, IKEA Group,                                        William Demant, Wind Tre, WIT Software, Wolters Kluwer, Zurich
Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Company, Implenia, Impresa,                                  Airport, Zurich Insurance, Öhman, Ørsted, Österreichische Post.

     Belgian & Luxembourg companies   All companies, excluding Belgian & Luxembourg companies                             Note: Of all contributing companies, 14 chose to be anonymous, 0 of them being from Belgium & Luxembourg

16                                                                                                                                                                                                                     17
Setting the Scene                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Setting the Scene

Bits and Bytes
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Companies are using a mix of Data Sources and Storage
                                                                                                                                                               Companies are using a combination                                    Solution: How are you primarily dealing with the computing demands
                                                                                                                                                               of on-premise and cloud solutions                                    needed for AI?
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Data Source: 1.Are you currently using unstructured or structured data
                                                                                                                                                               Companies are increasingly using
What technologies and data solutions are within the scope of the study?                                                                                        cloud-based AI solutions for both
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    types in your AI process? 2.Are you currently using internal or external
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    data sources in your AI process?
                                                                                                                                                               storage and on-demand computing
                                                                                                                                                               power - 83% of companies reporting
                                                                                                                                                               using Cloud technology to some ex-
AI can be defined as the ability of a               not in common use by companies in          While companies historically have                               tent to enable their AI capabilities. Key
machine to perform cognitive func-                  Europe. Companies surveyed are cur-        primarily have used internal data for                           benefits of cloud solutions mentioned
                                                                                                                                                               by many respondents are the flexibility

                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Solution
tions which are normally associated                 rently focused on narrower and more        supervised Machine Learning, many
with humans. This includes reasoning,               specific use-cases that support existing   have begun exploring the possibility of                         to swiftly scale systems up and down
learning, problem solving, and in some              business. These efforts will undoubt-      combining internal and external data-                           to accommodate changing demand, a
cases even exercising human behavior                edly help companies build capabilities     sets in order to produce even deeper                            variable cost structure, and access to                                             27%                        17%                         56%
such as creativity.                                 that are necessary to deploy more          insights.                                                       larger data sets. However, many com-                                             In Cloud                 On premise                      Both
                                                    advanced AI solutions in the future.                                                                       panies are still relying on on-premise
Advanced AI applications are not                                                               Machine Learning and Smart Robot-                               solutions, not least due to existing data
yet widespread                                      Machine Learning                           ics were found to be the most useful.                           infrastructure.
AI holds the potential to transform                 The most commonly used AI technol-         It is not clear from the study if this is
business in a radical way given its wide            ogy among the surveyed companies           because they are simply the most com-
                                                                                               mon starting points before deploying                               Machine learning, smart robo-
variety of use. Quite simply, business              is Machine Learning. This is inarguably
                                                                                               more advanced technologies, or if they                             tics and NLP most useful for
leaders need to understand AI in order              due to its wide-ranging applicabili-
                                                                                               also longer term hold the most wide                                companies in Belgium and Lux-
to grasp the opportunities and threats              ty, making it relevant for a variety of
                                                                                               and significant application potential.                             embourg
the technologies pose.                              use-cases across the value chain. Of the

                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Data Source
                                                    different types of Machine Learning,                                                                          On average, the underlying tech-
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  32%                         7%                         43%
While companies acknowledge the                     the most common is supervised Ma-                                                                             nologies that are most useful
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Structured                 Unstructured                    Both
significant potential of broader, more              chine Learning, where software is fed                                                                         for companies in Belgium and
advanced AI technologies such as                    structured data and finds patterns that                                                                       Luxembourg are concentrated
computer vision, speech recognition,                can be used to understand and inter-                                                                          in three areas: machine learning
and virtual agents, they are currently              pret new observations.                                                                                        (81%), smart robotics (62%) and
                                                                                                                                                                  natural language processing
                                                                                                                                                                  (48%). Smart robotics ranks con-
                                                                                                                                                                  siderably higher than the Europe-
A broad definition of technologies are included in this AI definition
                                                                                                                                                                  an aggregate (44%).                                                             38%                         3%                         44%
Technologies included in the definition of AI used in this study
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Internal                   External                      Both

                                                         Text Analysis
                                                         Computational analysis of texts,

              Natural Language Processing
                                                         making it readable by other AI or
                                                                                               Biometrics                                                     Machine Learning and Smart Robotics found to be the most useful
                                                         computer systems.
              Computer interpretation, under-                                                  Analysis of human physical and                                 Which of the following technologies have you found to be most useful in your company’s deployment of AI?
              standing, and generation of written                                              emotional characteristics – used
              natural human language.                                                          also for identification and access
                                                                                               control.

                                                                                                                                                                 77%             44%               40%              39%                     39%             26%               21%              20%               6%
Virtual Agents
Computer-generated virtual personas                                                                                Machine Learning
that can be used to interact with people                                                                           A computer’s ability to ‘learn’
in both B2C, C2B, and B2B contexts.                                                                                from data, either supervised or               81%             62%                48%            43%                      38%             33%              14%              24%               10%
                                                                                                                   non-supervised.

Speech Recognition                                                                                                 Neural Networks and Deep Learning
Enables computers to interpret spo-                                                                                Machines emulating the human brain,
ken language and to transform it into                                                                              enabling AI models to learn like humans.
written text or to treat it as commands
for a computer.                                                                                                                                                Machine      Smart robotics         Natural        Neural                Text analysis   Virtual agents      Speech          Computer         Biometrics
                                                                                                                   Computer Vision                             learning                           language     networks and                                               recognition         vision
                                                                                                                   Gives computers the ability to                                                processing    deep learning
Smart Robotics                                                                                                     “see” images similar to how
The combination of AI and robots to                                                                                humans see.
                                                                                                                                                                  Affirmative responses, 15 European markets        Affirmative responses, Belgium & Luxembourg
perform advanced tasks compared to
traditional non-intelligent robots.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Note: Remaining percent ‘Don’t know’ responses

18                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    19
Setting the Scene                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Setting the Scene

Follow the Money                                                                                                                                                                       acquisitions, and is also much in line
                                                                                                                                                                                       with what we’re seeing when compar-
                                                                                                                                                                                       ing with the US and Asia.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Over $110 million invested in AI
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   start-ups in Belgium and Lux-
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                TMT most active, behind private
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                equity and venture capital
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Investments into AI companies per sector,
How much is invested in AI in Europe?                                                                                                                                        Finland                                                               embourg in the past decade                   mUSD (accumulated 2008-2018)*
                                                                                                                                                                   $24M                Investment activity concentrated in                         In Belgium and Luxembourg,
                                                                                                 Norway                                                           21 deals             major European markets                                      there were 14 transactions over
                                                                                                             $30M                                                                      It comes as no surprise that a lot of                       the past decade involving com-
A few big AI transactions                                                                                    5 deals
influencing the overall picture                                                                                                                                                        investment activity is in the UK, France,                   panies working with AI. Of these,
Company AI investments in mUSD and                                                                                                                                                     and Germany, having attracted 87% of                        10 reported deal value totaling
                                                                                                                                     $254M
transaction volume per market                                                                                                        73 deals                                          investment in AI companies over the                         $110 million, implying the ac-
                                                                                                                                                                                       past decade. The UK leads significantly                     tual amount is even higher. Of                                         $7,453M
(accumulated 2008-2018)                                                                                                              Sweden                                                                                                                                                                               1,027 deals
                                                                                                                                                                                       in this regard, with 533 of the total                       the AI companies in Belgium                                            Private Equity /
                                                                                                                                                                                       1,362 AI transactions in Europe. From                       and Luxembourg that received                                           Venture Capital**
                                                                                                                                                                                       an investment perspective, it is also                       investments or were acquired,
                                                                                                              $330M*
                                                                                                              21 deals                                                                 worth noting that in April 2018, the EU                     71% focus on machine learning
                                                                                                                                                                                       committed to a 70% increase in invest-                      technology, likely due to its wide
                                                                $7262M                                        Denmark
                                        Ireland                                                                                                                                        ment in European AI by 2020, suggest-                       applicability across a range of
                                                                533 deals
                                                                              The Netherlands                                                                                          ing further growth and potential in the                     business problems and sectors.
                                                          United Kingdom
                                              $39M                                                                                                                                     region.
                                                                                                    $43M
                                             37 deals                                              45 deals

                                                                                         $110M
                                                                                                                   $520M
                                                                                      Belgium &                   140 deals
                                                                                     Luxembourg
                                                                                                                  Germany
                                                                                                                                                                                       Steady increase in European AI investment
                                                                                                                                                                                       AI companies invested into, transaction volume, Europe (from 2008-2018)**                                                          $1,843M
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          220 deals
                                                                                                  $107M                                                                                                                                                                                                                   TMT
                                                                                                  31 deals          $75M
                                                                                                                   17 deals
                                                                              $1357M            Switzerland
                                                                              165 deals                                                                                                Number of                                                                                                                          $494M
                                                                                                                              Austria                                                  transactions                                                                                                                       17 deals
                                                                                France                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Industrial Products

                                              $3M                                                                                                                                      450
                                             8 deals                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      $368M
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         398
                                  Portugal                                                                                 $47M                                                                                                                                                                                           12 deals
                                                                                                                          29 deals                                                     400                                                                                                                                Infrastructure

     European                 Belgium &                           $131M                                                               Italy
                                                                                                                                                                                       350                                                                                        327
     markets                  Luxembourg                         79 deals
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Total                                                                     $254M
     UK bubble size not represenative                                                                                                                                                  300                                                   investment                                                                   21 deals
*Universal Robots acquired for $285M                                                                                                                                                                                                           $10.5bn                                                                    Life Science
                                                        Spain
                                                                                                                                                                                       250                                                                                228

The acquisition data from numerous                      alone. This trend is on track to con-                     tive investors and acquirers of AI than                                                                                                                                                                 $70M
                                                                                                                  corporates, accounting for 75% of deal                               200                                                                                                                                41 deals
sources enabled us to explore the                       tinue, with an exponential increase                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Finance
European AI ecosystem and gain in-                      in interest in AI driving more large                      volume in the last 10 years. This is an                                                                                                       148
                                                                                                                  indication that AI companies are in the                              150
sights into investment activity.                        companies to invest in AI or acquire AI
                                                        capabilities from innovative start-ups.                   early stages of high risk/high growth
                                                                                                                                                                                       100                                                            88                                                                  $38M
An exponential increase in AI in-                       Of the 15 markets surveyed, some in-                      dynamics. It also indicates that, for                                                                                                                                                                   10 deals
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            64
vestment over the past decade                           clude one or two transactions that are                    large corporates, acquiring or invest-                                                                                                                                                                  CPR
                                                                                                                  ing in external AI businesses in order                                50                              29        27
Looking at AI transaction activity                      significantly large deals.                                                                                                                 14         11
                                                                                                                  to obtain AI capabilities is relatively
across Europe, there has been a steep                                                                                                                                                    0                                                                                                                                $22M
                                                        Majority of investments in AI from                        limited. This is confirmed by our survey                                                                                                                                                                14 deals
consistent growth trend over the past
                                                        private equity and venture capital                        results where only 10% of companies                                             2008      2009       2010      2011       2012      2013      2014       2015   2016   2017                             Services
10 years, totaling 1,334 transactions
                                                                                                                  are seeking to obtain needed AI capa-
involving AI by 2017 – with a six-fold                  Private equity (PE) and venture capital
                                                                                                                  bilities through external investment or
increase in activity in the last 5 years                (VC) firms are significantly more ac-                                                                                                 Europe                                                                                                 **Including governmental investment

Note: Several transactions in the dataset did not have publically disclosed deal values, suggesting that actual total values are higher than what’s shown above                         *For all of Europe, 34 countries (not just the 15 markets focused on in this report)

20                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         21
Artificial intelligence in Europe                       ( Case Study )                                                                                                                                                                                            Setting the Scene

Ageas                                                                                                                                            Expert Perspective
                                                                                                                                                 What does the future look like according to AI analysts?

Ageas is currently using various forms          cars in insurance claims, which frees    Ageas is also anticipating going be-
of AI, while also investigating the po-         Ageas from having to send investiga-     yond pictures, towards AI that can
tential to use even more. For its daily         tors to assess the damage. This appli-   interpret videos. Furthermore, Natural
operations, AI models are used to               cation of AI makes the process signifi-  Language Processing (NLP) is being
forecast many aspects of the business.          cantly faster and more convenient for    applied in call centers and will soon
These forecasts are used by Ageas               both the client and Ageas. The appli-    play a pivotal role in transforming cus-
employees to make informed                                                                         tomer service. Ageas is imple-
decisions. Ageas currently has                                                                     menting Artificial Intelligence               We also spoke to a range of leading AI     Agile culture enables AI                    task is to educate and improve un-
over 100 internal predictive                                                                       in client-facing areas to re-
analytics projects running
                                           Ageas is implementing Artificial In-                    spond quickly and accurately,
                                                                                                                                                 experts from business and academia         Culture was a recurring theme as well.      derstanding, from C-suite leadership
                                                                                                                                                 to gain insights into the kind of change                                               teams to employees at the coal face.
or in the pipeline for the                   telligence in client-facing areas to                  while freeing up employees                    which we are on the cusp, and the
                                                                                                                                                                                            It can either stifle forward momentum
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        This also ties in with the importance of
                                                                                                                                                                                            in organizations, or be the silver bullet
coming two years, of which               respond quickly and accurately, while                     to focus on the most critical                 role AI is expected to play as part of a   that enables the potential of AI to be      partnering to get started and access
more than 10 have already                freeing up employees to focus on the                      aspects of the business. The                  broader transformational wave.             realized from top to bottom.                the expertise needed to use AI. While
been implemented into the                                                                          key problem it faces with
business.
                                          most critical aspects of the business.                   many AI technologies is their
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        partnering and collaborating solves
                                                                                                                                                 AI is entering the mainstream              Some of the experts even argue that         the perennial AI challenge concerning
                                                                                                   dependence on language.                       and here to stay                                                                       the scarcity of talent, the significant
                                                                                                                                                                                            it’s not only technical skills that hold
However, for Ageas the most                                                                        For example, a successful sys-                                                                                                       cost and substantial benefit that can
                                                                                                                                                 One thing was clear from the experts       up AI projects, it’s also the need for a
interesting aspect of AI lies in its ability    cation of image analytics started in the tem implemented in the UK cannot be                                                                                                            be gained from AI means that organ-
                                                                                                                                                 we spoke to: as far as the peaks and       culture of experimentation.
to process unstructured data. Ageas             UK and is now being quickly rolled out   simply transferred and implemented in                                                                                                          izations also need to be cognizant of
                                                                                                                                                 troughs of hype and technological
has begun using AI to analyze custom-           to its other markets due to its success. Belgium or Portugal.                                                                                                                           building capabilities in-house for the
                                                                                                                                                 leaps surrounding AI go, there is no       Companies that are more natively
er photos to estimate the damage of                                                                                                                                                                                                     long-term.
                                                                                                                                                 doubt that we are living through a         digital or have gone down that road
                                                                                                                                                 particularly prominent peak, with no       understand the value of experimenting
                                                                                                                                                 indication that the buzz nor the po-       and iterating. They don’t think in tra-     Finally, as AI develops, we are also
                                                                                                                                                 tential will fade away any time soon. In   ditional terms of committing to year-       going to see innovation and expertise
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        spreading outside of the dominant
                                                                            What next?                                                           a world increasingly dominated, dis-
                                                                                                                                                 rupted and driven by innovative tech
                                                                                                                                                                                            long projects that need to produce
                                                                                                                                                                                            specific outputs, but rather to explore     clusters of the likes of Silicon Valley,
                                                                                                                                                 powerhouses, large and small, it is no     and test ideas before scaling.              as governments, businesses and uni-
     Ageas is a Belgium-based insurance company, employing over             Going forward, Ageas will expand its AI initiatives to scale early                                                                                          versities increasingly invest in building
                                                                                                                                                 understatement to suggest that AI will
     50,000 people globally to serve 39 million customers across 15         successful use cases with intelligent automation in the front-                                                                                              knowledge, resources and capabilities.
                                                                                                                                                 be a chief protagonist in the change       When it comes to AI,
     countries, predominantly in Europe and Asia. With over 3 million       end and back-end of the business. The goal of this is to further
                                                                                                                                                 transcending all elements of business      knowledge is power
     clients in Belgium, almost 1 in 2 Belgians households are customers    automate processes and increase the efficiency of employees
                                                                                                                                                 in what has been labelled the Fourth       Expert opinion also seemed unani-
     of Ageas, making it a market leader in life insurance and number       on a large scale by empowering them with AI tools. Ageas is
                                                                                                                                                 Industrial Revolution.                     mous in that most people not directly
     2 in non-life. Its revenue in Belgium was over €5 billion in 2017.     progressively rolling out an AI-driven system aimed at forecasting
                                                                            what employees need and pushing it to them. The system will                                                     involved with AI must still have quite a
     Ageas is also a major player in auto insurance and travel insurance                                                                         Business-minded people will
                                                                            also play an important role in systemically mining the knowledge                                                basic understanding of what AI is and
     in the UK.                                                                                                                                  drive the transformation
                                                                            embedded in the company.                                                                                        what it can actually do. Therefore, the
                                                                                                                                                 The AI experts confirmed some of the
                                                                                                                                                 key ingredients necessary for AI in
                                                                                                                                                 organizations: a combination of do-
                                                                                                                                                 main and technical expertise, the ap-
                                                                                                                                                 propriate technology, the right talent,
                                                                                                                                                 and lots and lots of data. While letting
                                                                                                                                                 tech-savvy individuals drive innovation               Farmers and growers are still reasonably
We believe that AI will bring significant                                  You need experts that truly know the                                  is great for building understanding,                  conventional, with an average age of 55 years. The
disruptions, such as enabling self-driving cars.                                                                                                 true transformation will not come until               chances are that this will change significantly in the
                                                                           technological playing field. You have to work
                                                                                                                                                 business people start suggesting prob-
If cars can become self-driving, why would                                 with PhDs that understand both technology                                                                                   future. It could just be that technology companies
                                                                                                                                                 lems for AI to solve - not the other way
there be a need for personal insurance?                                    and semantics. These people are hard to find,                         round.                                                will become the disruptors of our market.
                                                                           they know they are precious on the market
                                                                           and they are typically more willing to join                                                                                 — Royal Agrifirm Group
                                                                                                                                                                                                         Agricultural cooperative
                                                                           start-ups.

22                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              23
Setting the Scene                                                                                                                    Setting the Scene

                                                                      We believe that every organization is going to have to write their
From the Horse’s Mouth*                                               own AI manifesto: what they believe about AI, how they’re going
                                                                      to use or not use data, how they’re going to publish data, and
*From the highest authority
                                                                      make the consumers of their products and services aware of that.
                                                                      The creation of those manifestos is going to become a gateway
                                                                      to the success of AI.

                                                                      — Norm Judah, Chief Technology Officer of Worldwide Services
                                                                      at Microsoft

The full extent of the AI story remains in its early stages. What
we do know is that big data, computing power and connectivity         If you have a ton of data, and your problem is one of classifying pat-
are changing the industrial landscape. The opportunity rests in       terns (like speech recognition or object identification), AI may well
accelerating the digitization of businesses, making them more         be able to help. But let’s be realistic, too: AI is still nowhere near as
data driven by building applications that deliver machine-assist-     flexible and versatile as human beings; if you need a machine to
ed insights.                                                          read, or react dynamically, on the fly, to some kind of ever changing
                                                                      problem, the technology you seek may not yet exist. Intelligence is a
— Mona Vernon, CTO, Thomson Reuters Labs                              really hard problem.

                                                                      — Gary Marcus, Founder & CEO, Geometric Intelligence [acquired by
                                                                      Uber] professor, NYU, contributor to The New Yorker and The New
                                                                      York Times
In some cases, there is too much hype, but paradoxically, the
potential opportunities and benefits of AI are still, if anything,
under-hyped. Often, the impact of new technologies is overes-         AI is a general purpose technology, so will eventually affect all in-
timated in the short term and underestimated in the long term,        dustries. However, this impact can be slowed by the lack of data
and while there is a lot of noise regarding AI, there’s been a lack   in particular industries. There’s also more innovative cultures
of in-depth discussion and analysis of how it’s actually going to     inside different organizations, that can either drive adoption or
transform businesses.                                                 prevent it.

— Nigel Duffy, Global AI Innovation Leader, EY                        — Marc Warner, CEO, ASI Data Science

24                                                                                                                                                 25
Artificial intelligence in Europe                                                                                                                                                           Role of AI in European Business

                                                                      A Strategic Agenda
                                                                      Where is the AI conversation currently taking place?

Role of AI
                                                                      A good starting point to understand                 Active C-suite and Board of Direc-                  both pertain to job insecurity and to
                                                                      how large European companies are                    tors involvement                                    the fact that AI is still a highly abstract
                                                                      handling AI is to look at who in the                In 71% of the companies surveyed, AI                topic for many when it comes to prov-
                                                                      organization is driving the AI agenda,              is already an important topic on the                ing day-to-day business value.
                                                                      whether it be the Board, the C-suite,               C-suite agenda and across various
                                                                      managers, or employees.                             roles - from cost-focused CFOs looking
                                                                                                                                                                                AI an important topic among
                                                                                                                          for efficiency through automation, to

in European
                                                                      AI is particularly relevant at                                                                            executives in Belgium and Lux-
                                                                                                                          CDOs with customer-oriented ambi-
                                                                      higher organizational levels                                                                              embourg
                                                                                                                          tions as part of wider digitalization
                                                                      From driving strategic considerations               efforts, to the CTOs who is often still               At 90%, Belgium and Luxem-
                                                                      at the Board level to being a topic of in-          responsible for a type of AI Center of                bourg has the highest number
                                                                      terest or concern at the employee level,            Excellence.                                           of respondents that indicate AI
                                                                      the results are clear: AI is important                                                                    is an important item among ex-
                                                                                                                                                                                ecutives. Conversely, companies

Business
                                                                      and resides across all levels at many of            Companies more advanced in AI tend
                                                                      the organizations we interviewed.                   to have stronger involvement of the                   in Belgium and Luxembourg are
                                                                                                                          C-suite and the Boards of Directors                   among the lowest in Europe that
                                                                      Only a few companies stated that AI is              than the rest. They focus less on the                 report AI is an important topic
                                                                      not currently an important topic at any             technology itself and more on the busi-               among the managerial level and
                                                                      level of the organization - while the               ness problems that AI can addresses.                  non-managerial employees, sug-
                                                                      vast majority of companies view AI as                                                                     gesting that AI initiatives are pri-
                                                                      generally important regardless of how               Relatively speaking, the AI topic seems               marily driven by the C-suite.
                                                                      advanced they are, or how much AI is                to not yet having reached the same
                                                                      being considered for deployment in                  level of importance at the non-mana-
                                                                      the near future.                                    gerial level (employees) than at the top.
                                                                                                                          Speculating about the reason, it could
There is a lot of hype surrounding AI at the moment, and few
doubt its potential. We examine how important is AI compared to
other digital priorities and where AI fits on the strategic agenda.   AI is an important topic on the C-suite level in particular
                                                                      On what hierarchical levels in your company is AI an important topic?                                                    AI is in particular an im-
                                                                                                                                                                                            portant topic at the Execu-
                                                                                                                                                                                               tive Management level

We look at the impact of AI on the company’s core business, as
                                                                      S T R AT E G I C L E V E L

well as adjacent and new areas of business.                                 Board                                         38%
                                                                            of Directors                                                                                             38%
                                                                            level

                                                                                                                                                                     90%
                                                                            Executive
We also examine the current AI maturity levels across sectors and           Management
                                                                            level
                                                                                                                                                                                      71%

markets, the potential drivers for deploying AI, and where AI is                                                              43%
                                                                            Managerial                                                                                               56%
applied within organizations, across customer-facing functions,             level

operations, product development, and internal business support.             Employee
                                                                            (non managerial
                                                                                                           19%
                                                                                                                                                                                     28%
                                                                            level)

                                                                      O P E R AT I O N A L L E V E L

                                                                             Affirmative responses, 15 European markets         Affirmative responses, Belgium & Luxembourg

26                                                                                                                                                                                                                          27
Role of AI in European Business                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Role of AI in European Business

Among Friends                                                                                                                                      Push or Pull
What is the importance of AI against other digital priorities?                                                                                     How is AI predominately deployed into the organizations?

                                                                                                                                                   To understand the drivers behind                                   Business drives AI advancements in companies in Belgium
In a business era driven by innovation        The participating companies are gen-                AI seen as slightly more impor-                  the adoption and deployment of AI                                  and Luxembourg
and tech-led disruption, AI is obviously      erally in the process of understanding              tant vs. other digital priorities                in the companies, we took a closer                                 Among companies surveyed in Belgium and Luxembourg, AI
not the sole priority.                        the potential of existing data, includ-             in Belgium and Luxembourg                        look at how AI is approached in a top                              deployment is more frequently driven by pull from the business
                                              ing to what extent it can be used,                                                                   down-bottom up management con-
                                                                                                  Many companies surveyed are                                                                                         as opposed to push from IT. In addition, 38% of the companies
AI as a digital priority                      what it can be used for, and how to                                                                  text, and from a functional tech- vs.
                                                                                                  engaging in successful pilot pro-                                                                                   manage AI bottom-up while 29% use a top-down approach. This
When asked on a scale of 1 to 5 how           capture and leverage it.                                                                             business driven dynamic.
                                                                                                  jects or have AI initiatives that are                                                                               result was confirmed in the executive interviews: some respond-
important AI is to the business relative                                                          released into production. When                                                                                      ents highlight the high-level focus AI has in their companies while
to other digital priorities, the majority     Furthermore, many of the companies                                                                   AI driven from a combination of
                                                                                                  it comes to their prioritization,                                                                                   others mention that different employee teams developing digital
of respondents told us that it is about       are focused on building the appropri-                                                                technology push and business pull
                                                                                                  respondents in Belgium and Lux-                                                                                     projects are in charge of driving AI.
equal. Very few organizations said it         ate data infrastructures or modern-                                                                  The contributing companies are quite
                                                                                                  embourg on average consider
was their most important digital priori-      izing legacy systems as a top digital                                                                evenly split across deploying AI as a
                                                                                                  AI slightly more important than
ty, or not formalized as a digital priority   priority, both being prerequisites                                                                   top down process, as a bottom up, or
                                                                                                  other digital priorities, a ranking
at all, with the spread of responses          for introducing AI into the company.                                                                 as a combination of the two. However,         AI deployed and managed in a balanced way
                                                                                                  above the European aggregate.
leaning slightly towards the upper end        Considering that AI is heavily reliant                                                               when looking at the self-reported most        How would you characterize the way AI is being managed in your com-
                                                                                                  However, none of them report
of the importance spectrum.                   on data as its fuel, this development                                                                advanced companies, they are more             pany? How would you characterize the way AI is being deployed in your
                                                                                                  AI is the most important digital
                                              suggests that the foundations are                                                                    top down than bottom up in their ap-          company?
                                                                                                  priority. Respondents are also
This slant is likely to increase as many      being laid for further AI integration in                                                             proach. It was clear from speaking with
                                                                                                  focusing on collecting and storing
companies expect AI to become more            the years to come.                                                                                   them, that this is partly a result of AI
                                                                                                  the right data and building their
important, as the technology develops                                                             general digital strategy. These                  being increasingly important enabler
and use-cases become more clear to                                                                results suggest that, although AI                in the company, and playing an in-
                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Top Down                    Bottom up                     Both
companies.                                                                                        is not the highest digital priority,             creasingly significant role in the overall
                                                                                                  they are taking the steps neces-                 strategy.
                                                                                                  sary to move their AI initiatives
                                                                                                  forward.                                         AI driven from a combination of
                                                                                                                                                   technology push and business pull
                                                                                                                                                   According to a large part of the com-

                                                                                                                                                                                                Deployment Approach
                                                                                                                                                   panies. and despite still being a techni-
                                                                                                                                                   cally complex thing that requires many                                  34%       29%                29%       38%            28%        24%
                                                                                                                                                   specially skilled employees, AI is most
AI is seen as one of many digital priorities - but rarely the most important                                               The majority consider
                                                                                                                              AI to be important   often deployed as a combination of
How important is AI relative to your company’s other digital priorities?
                                                                                                                                                   business pull and technology push.

                                                                                                                                                   This resonates well with one of the                                     Business Pull                   IT Push                     Both
                                                                                                                               Avg. Score          most consistent inputs from the execu-
                                                                  44%   52%                                                                        tives on the most sought after AI pro-
                                                 38%                                 28%
                                                                                                                                                   files which centered in on the hybrid
                    9%                12%                                                                                      3.4    3.1
        5%                   5%                                                                                 7%                                 profile that understand the business
                                                                                                                                                   needs and the ability to match them to
                                                                                                     0%
                                                                                                                                                   the technological possibilities.
              1                   2                      3                      4                          5
                                                                                                                                                                                                                           24%       48%                23%        19%           45%        33%
      Not important                                 Important                                       Most important
     AI is not formalised                        AI is one of many                              AI is the most important
     as a digital priority                        digital priorities                                  digital priority

                                                                                                                                                                                                                          15 European markets                   Belgium & Luxembourg

       15 European markets        Belgium & Luxembourg                        Note: Remaining percent ‘Don’t know’ responses
                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Note: Remaining percent ‘Don’t know’ responses

28                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     29
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