Thomas Saueressig, a board member at SAP and the company’s chief customer officer, told Agence France-Presse in an interview that Europe’s deep industrial expertise and rich data pools give it a unique opening to excel in AI applications tailored to manufacturing, logistics and other heavy industries, areas where bespoke models could deliver tangible efficiency gains. “Artificial intelligence for use in industry is where I believe Europe can succeed big time around the globe,” Saueressig said at the company’s headquarters in Walldorf, southwest Germany.

Europe is often viewed as lagging behind the United States and China in the broader AI race. American companies such as OpenAI and Google dominate large language models and consumer-oriented AI, while China’s rapidly growing tech ecosystem, including labs like DeepSeek, is advancing rapidly in both scale and funding. The gap has prompted concern among policymakers and industry leaders on the continent, who see strategic AI capability as essential to future growth and competitiveness.

Compounding the urgency is Europe’s fraying relationship with both Beijing and Washington. Brussels has accused Chinese firms of unfair trade practices, while ties with the United States under President Donald Trump have grown tense, adding impetus to European efforts to develop independent technological capacities. Those geopolitical strains have sharpened calls for “digital sovereignty,” with companies and governments alike seeking to reduce reliance on foreign tech infrastructure and retain control over critical data.

Saueressig said industrial AI tools, typically smaller, more energy-efficient and tailored to specific tasks, represent a promising niche where European firms can differentiate themselves rather than trying to outgun global hyper scale players on their own turf. “We don’t need to think about only the large language models; we also need to talk about specific industry models,” he said.

As European economies intensify efforts to harness AI, industry observers say investment, talent development and regulatory support will be key to narrowing the gap with the U.S. and China and securing a foothold in next-generation technologies.