With landmark initiatives announced to forge new frontiers in Europe’s digital sovereignty, including the €200bn InvestAI Initiative and unprecedented emphasis on quantum, cloud, semiconductors, and data storage, a sense of urgency is sweeping across the continent to reimagine the status quo and reshape critical tech infrastructures.
Perfectly timed to harness Europe’s inherent innovation prowess and catapult its position among leading digital economies is GITEX EUROPE x AI Everything (21-23 May, Messe Berlin). The world’s third-largest economy and host nation for GITEX EUROPE x AI Everything, Germany’s role as the European economic and technology chieftain comes into sharp focus, as transatlantic tensions ramp up in the global digital and AI leadership race. Germany’s ICT sector is projected to reach €232.8bn in 2025 (Statista).
GITEX EUROPE x AI Everything, now emerging as Europe’s largest inaugural tech, startup and digital investment event, is organised by KAOUN International and hosted in partnership with the Berlin Senate Department for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises, Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, Berlin Partner for Business and Technology, and the European Innovation Council (EIC).
Franziska Giffey, Mayor of Berlin and Senator for Economic Affairs, Energy and Public Enterprises said: “Partnering with one of the largest tech and startup global events and hosting the debut of GITEX EUROPE in Berlin strengthens our commitment to solidifying Germany’s position as a global magnet for investment and frontier-pushing technologies, spearheading Europe’s edge in the next digital decade.”
Global Tech Openly Engages for Cross-Border, Cross-Industry Partnerships:
The momentous first edition brings together over 1,400 big tech enterprises, startups and SMEs, including platinum sponsors AWS and IBM, alongside Cisco, Cloudflare, Dell, Fortinet, Lenovo, NTT, Nutanix, Nvidia, Opswat, and SAP, to forge consensus in new partnerships and business outcomes for more agile, business-friendly, and responsible global digital systems. GITEX EUROPE x AI Everything shall present the most global tech and startup event with a stellar lineup of tech companies from over 100 countries and 34 European states, including tech pavilions from India, Italy, Morocco, Netherlands, Poland, Serbia, South Korea, UK, UAE, and more.
Trixie LohMirmand, CEO of KAOUN International, organiser of GITEX worldwide, shared: “Amid the AI whirlwinds, there is a coordinated consensus and renewed urgency and unity across Europe to assert its digital sovereignty and leadership as a global innovation force. The region is paving its way as a centre-stage where AI, quantum and deep tech supremacy will be debated, developed, and scaled, and GITEX EUROPE strategically hosted in this vantage nexus and watershed time in history shall define Europe’s technological future in an epoch where leadership is earned through bold action and solidarity.”
Influential Global Leaders Address EU’s Critical Tech Crossroads:
Over 500 global speakers – nearly half addressing the tech community for the first time on a German tech stage – debate the new strategic priorities, from AI and quantum supremacy to cloud and data sovereignty. Moreover, the InvestAI Initiative strengthens Europe’s position as a hub for transformative tech discourse. In addition, the event underscores the urgency of aligning innovation with policy. Among the global headliners are Geoffrey Hinton, Physics Nobel Laureate (2024), ‘Godfather of AI’, and the neural network pioneer who sparked worldwide debate by questioning AI consequences; Kai Wegner, Mayor of Berlin; H.E. Jelena Begović, Serbian Minister of Science, Technological Development and Innovation; António Henriques, CEO, Bison Bank; Jager McConnell, CEO, Crunchbase; Mark Surman, President, Mozilla; and Sandro Gianella, Head of Europe & Middle East Policy & Partnerships, OpenAI.
Europe’s Boldest Moves in AI, Deep Tech & Quantum:
Europe is building its own AI frontier, focused on cross-sector use-cases, new investments, and international partnerships. AI Everything Europe, the event’s flagship AI showcase and conference, brings together one of the biggest convergences of AI architects, startups, and investors presenting the full scale, depth, and global influence of AI ecosystems.
Influential AI experts address the sector’s most urgent topics on-stage, from EuroStack ambitions to tangible implications of agentic AI, with speakers including Martin Kon, President and COO, Cohere, the $5.5bn Canadian AI unicorn; Daniel Verten, Strategy Partner, Synthesia, $2.1bn UK-based unicorn backed by Nvidia; and Prof. Dr. Antonio Krueger, CEO of German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI). Across the show floor, diverse AI breakthroughs come to life, from Brazil’s Ubivis presenting smart factories powered by IoT and Digital Twins to Hexis’ AI-driven nutrition trusted by 500+ Olympic and elite athletes.
With nearly €7 billion in quantum investment, second only to China, Europe is accelerating its push for quantum leadership by 2030. Meanwhile, the InvestAI Initiative reinforces this momentum as GITEX Quantum Expo (GQX), in partnership with IBM and QuIC – Europe’s largest quantum industry association, dives into advanced quantum research and cross-industry impact with exclusive showcases and conferences. Speakers include Mira Wolf-Bauwens, Responsible Quantum Computing Lead, IBM Research, Switzerland; Joachim Mnich, Director of Research & Computing, CERN, Switzerland; Neil Abroug, Head of the French National Quantum Strategy, INRIA; and Jan Goetz, CEO & Co-Founder, IQM Quantum Computers, Finland.
Alessandro Curioni, IBM Fellow, Vice President Europe and Africa, and Director of IBM Research Zurich, said: “IBM’s investments in AI and quantum computing directly reflect our commitment to Europe, and underscore the key role of collaboration with industry, academia, and policymakers for a pan-European ecosystem. These state-of-the-art technologies and facilities will foster innovation, creating new opportunities for talent attraction and ensuring that Europe will always be at the forefront of global technological advancements.”
Cyber Valley: Building A United Resilient Cyber Frontline
With cloud breaches doubling and AI-driven attacks complicating the equation, threat response and cyber resilience are a core focus at the event. Fortinet, CrowdStrike, Kaspersky, Knowbe4, and Proofpoint join a host of leading cyber companies exhibiting at GITEX Cyber Valley, alongside law enforcement leaders, global CISOs, and policymakers on stage, including Brig. Gen. Dr. Volker Pötzsch, Chief of Division Cyber/IT & AI, Federal Ministry of Defence, Germany; H.E. Dr. Mohamed Al-Kuwaiti, Head of Cybersecurity, UAE Government; Miguel De Bruycker, Managing Director General, Centre for Cybersecurity Belgium; and Ugo Vignolo Lutati, Group CISO, Prada Group.
GITEX Green Impact: Advancing Climate Imperatives for a Sustainable Future:
GITEX Green Impact connects the real accelerators of the green transition – innovators and investors – with over 100 startups and investors exploring how green hydrogen, bioenergy, and next-gen energy storage are moving from R&D to deployment. Moreover, the InvestAI Initiative aligns with these efforts by supporting sustainable technology innovation. In addition, it highlights Europe’s commitment to integrating AI with climate-forward solutions. Key speakers are Gavin Towler, Chief Scientist for Sustainability Technologies & CTO, Honeywell; Julie Kitcher, Chief Sustainability Officer, Airbus; Lisa Reehten, Managing Director, Bosch Climate Solutions; Massimo Falcioni, Chief Competitiveness Officer, Abu Dhabi Investment Office; and Mounir Benaija, CTO – EV & Charging Infrastructure, TotalEnergies.
Convening the Largest and Best Global Startup Ecosystem Amongst 60+ Nations:
GITEX EUROPE x AI Everything launches North Star Europe, the debut edition of the world’s largest startup event (Expand North Star), gathering over 750 startups and 20 global unicorns – Qonto, Flutterwave, reMarkable, TransferMate, Solarisbank AG, Bolt, Flix, and Glovo.
The event features a curated international collection of early and growth-stage startups from Belgium, France, Hungary, Italy, Morocco, Portugal, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Serbia, the UK, the UAE, and more. Furthermore, the InvestAI Initiative reinforces Europe’s push to accelerate innovation across these diverse ecosystems. Likewise, it supports pioneering breakthroughs such as Neurocast.ai (Netherlands), advancing AI-powered neurotech for Alzheimer’s research, CloudBees (Switzerland) as the delivery unicorn backed by Goldman Sachs, HSBC, and Lightspeed, and Semiqon (Finland) developing the world’s first CMOS transistor with the ability to perform in cryogenic conditions.
Scouting new funding opportunities will be over 600 investors with $1tn assets under management (AUM), including Germany’s Earlybird VC, Austria’s SpeedInvest, Switzerland’s B2Venture, Estonia’s Startup Wise Guys, and the USA’s SOSV. GITEX ScaleX launches as a first-of-its-kind growth platform for scale-ups and late-stage companies in partnership with AWS.
With SMEs making up 99% of European businesses, GITEX SMEDEX connects SMEs with international trade networks and investors for funding, legal advice, and market access to scale innovations globally. Backed by EISMEA and ICC Digital Standards Initiative, the event features key SME ecosystem leaders advising on stage, including Milena Stoycheva, Chairperson of the Board of Innovation, Ministry of Innovation and Growth, Bulgaria; and Oliver Grün, President, European Digital SME Alliance and BITMi, among others.
