The Disconnect Between Politics and CEOs on Tech Sovereignty Could Let the Entire Vision Fail

“This whole sovereignty narrative in Europe is dangerous,” says Ericsson CEO Börje Ekholm in an interview with Bloomberg. In Europe, the topic of sovereignty can be “very emotional — maybe too emotional,” states SAP CEO Christian Klein. Håkan Samuelsson, CEO of Volvo Cars, tells the FT that “Europe would be the only loser” if the EU were to impose any restrictions or barriers on US technology. Ned Curic, chief technology officer of Stellantis, says “it will drive expenses for us and . . . it will eventually drive shrinking of the markets” for Europe’s car industry. Lastly, this single sentence by Tim Höttges, CEO of Deutsche Telekom, is perhaps the most clear-eyed summary of Europe’s current tech sovereignty dilemma. „Deutsche Telekom does not need an AI Gigafactory - Germany needs an AI Gigafactory!“

These quotes by some of Europe’s most important CEOs crystallize the tension and the many misunderstandings between European business leaders and political leaders when it comes to shaping Europe’s tech strategy vis-à-vis China and the USA. Tech sovereignty may be politically vital for Europe. But for multi-national companies, it is more than a challenging business case and ultimately a bet that may not pay off.

The political vision of tech sovereignty could very well fail in the short-range arena of business reality.

This tension between CEOs and policymakers is why we have started BeyondBeta.eu. In weekly Briefings and daily Signals coming out of our research project we will research, map, and profile the market and the business leaders, the innovators, the investors, and the policymakers who turn the political vision of Tech and AI Sovereignty into a business reality. The goal is to build a comprehensive database and landscape map of the business side of European Tech and AI sovereignty.

On the one hand, on the political side, there is no shortage of rallying to action for the buzzword of tech sovereignty. Presidents and Heads of State use it in every speech, strategy papers amount to a dozen per day, even hard EU regulation, like the Cloud and AI Development Act, is under way. High-profile summit meetings, like the German-French summit in Berlin last November, or the upcoming AI summit in Dublin in a few weeks aim to create more momentum for the political vision, even if that vision is still somewhat blurry.

On the other side, on the side of business leaders, investors, and scale-ups founders, CEOs struggle to turn that vision into a business reality – or, indeed, may not have high on the agenda to support it. They are measured by short-term P&L success, not civic duty. That includes hard numbers on cost effectiveness, capacity for innovation, the ease and speed of tech and AI implementation in multi-national production environments. Sovereign products, like sovereign cloud or European AI models, can provide little of that. They cost about 20+% more than their US competitors and they are, frankly, clunky to use. In addition, particularly multi-nationals cannot find themselves on the wrong side of either China or the USA. Going sovereign can be seen as the wrong signal. It also does not help that some businesses have already been through politically motivated tech projects, that proved nothing but painful and costly. GAIA-X, for example, or FCAS.

For me personally, the debate on Europe’s tech sovereignty started more than five years ago in 2021 in the office of German Chancellor Angela Merkel. With just a handful of her policy advisors, the Chancellor went over the final draft of an open letter that she was about to send to Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission. Together with Kaja Kallas, Mette Frederiksen and Sanna Marin Angela Merkel put the topic of tech sovereignty on the political agenda that day. Ever since, the subject has never left my career or the political agenda again.

Going from policymaker, where we negotiated tough sovereignty questions such as broken chips supply chains and Huawei’s role in the 5G toolbox, to being an academic, to now as a management consultant supporting multi-national clients. The tech sovereignty topic has only ever gained importance.

That is why, over the months ahead, my team and I are driving “Beyond Beta”.

“Beyond Beta” exists because debates about tech sovereignty are currently often confined to the policy bubble and too seldom connect the political ambition of tech sovereignty with the practical, multi-national, and shareholder-focused perspective of CEOs and CIOs.

This disconnect constrains both the supply side of tech sovereignty, i.e. the companies and startups that develop and sell sovereign products. And it deters those that are supposed to buy or invest in sovereign products, i.e. the demand side. Neither side knows what the market really looks like and if their (expensive) bet on sovereignty will pay off. Who really buys sovereign tech and if so – how much will they spend and how sovereign is sovereign enough for them? Will regulation, like the EU Cloud and Development Act, really come, or will it be too late and anyways not precise enough to calculate a total addressable market? Besides, will governments really stay true to becoming lead customers for sovereignty providers?

So what can you expect from “Beyond Beta” and why should you sign up for our briefings?

You will get to know the companies, innovators, and investors actively working to turn digital sovereignty from a political vision and buzzword into entrepreneurial reality. You will also gain insights into markets, political milestones, considerations, and key decision-makers shaping the framework conditions. And you will receive context and analysis of current events.

The result of our research project is a comprehensive database and map of AI and tech sovereignty companies, investments, and products across Europe and other parts of the world. “Beyond Beta” aims to provide market orientation, highlight potential solutions from less obvious players, and put curated tools, frameworks, and playbooks to the test.

And it aims to anticipate the headlines. Given I am still as much a policy wonk as a businessperson I know what still lies ahead of us: in a few weeks, politicians, defense, automotive, and the energy CEOs will be hotly debating Rare Earth supplies from China; in a few months, as the EU Commission confirms, we will be discussing 6G and OpenRAN. All the time, AI and cybersecurity will dominate the news, and the question whether Europe and the rest of the world will still have access to the latest Frontier AI models.

How does “Beyond Beta” tackle the topic?

First, we offer our weekly “Beyond Beta” briefings. Short background analysis, readable in under 10 minutes, that reports on highlights from our journey across Europe and beyond. People, products, markets that you need to know about beyond the daily headlines to help you make strategic decisions or simply stay up to date in the global sovereign debate. In addition, we offer daily “signals” – a comprehensive overview with everything you need to know that is happening across all eight layers of the tech stack. Business updates, news headlines, political milestones, academic analysis, all in one place, searchable.

We look forward to this journey with you – see you next Tuesday for the next Beyond Beta Briefing?