"SMEs must move from disconnected pilots to true alignment": study reveals that European companies are getting more out of AI than other markets

SAS finds EU SMEs are doing better with real-world AI implementations
Compliance remains a major headache for one in four leaders
Preparation for the EU AI Law could have helped

A new AI readiness report from SAS claims that European small businesses are among the best prepared to achieve the highest return on investment (ROI) from artificial intelligence compared to other regions in the world.

While North American SMEs perform better in planning, construction and enabling, they fall short in actual implementation, indicating that European SMEs have moved beyond pilot projects to actual implementation.

However, the number of companies globally that are still in the early stages of preparing for AI is much higher: 37% are considered “experimental” and 33% are considered “opportunistic.” Nine in 10 of stage one (experimental) companies don’t even have a formal AI strategy, the report reveals.

AI deployment is higher in Europe, but overall deployment remains low

Compared to the number of companies that are in the early stages of preparing for AI, only 9% have fully integrated AI into strategy, operations and decision-making.

For many, it is the fundamentals that are still holding them back. Nearly half say data is still dispersed across systems (45%) and that AI tools work independently of each other (46%). Compliance, security and risk management remain the biggest barrier for 24% of respondents.

“Organizations that treat governance as a foundation rather than an obstacle are often the best positioned to execute,” wrote John Carey, senior vice president of global channels at SAS, John Carey.

The report also implies that preparing for regulation like the EU AI Law could have better positioned companies to maximize the return on their AI investment, while other regions appear to be lacking in this area.

IDC Research Vice President Daniel-Zoe Jiménez urged companies to focus on aligning data, people and resources to avoid disconnected pilots. “Experimenting with technology is one thing. Implementing it strategically and sustainably is quite another.”

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