It’s been a while since we launched Above Trends, Beyond Insights. What started as an experiment in rethinking our editorial voice has now become a steady practice: every issue, we scan the signals that matter and translate them into business insight. Our commitment remains the same (less noise, more signal), with an even stronger focus on what executives need to navigate uncertainty: timely context, curated trends, and practical guidance.

Cloud dependence: Europe’s strategic Achilles’ heel

Recent EU sanctions on Google, followed by sharp retaliation from the Trump administration, have laid bare a critical vulnerability: Europe’s heavy reliance on US cloud providers.

According to The Register, three out of four European companies still entrust their most sensitive workloads to non-European platforms, raising fundamental questions about resilience, compliance, and long-term competitiveness.

Analysts highlight that even “sovereign cloud” options marketed by US hyperscalers remain entangled with extraterritorial jurisdictions, offering little true autonomy. For business leaders, this is not just a procurement issue but a governance dilemma that touches sovereignty, risk exposure, and strategic flexibility.

The lesson is clear: cloud migration must now be framed not only in terms of scalability and cost but also as a geopolitical choice. European decision makers need to consider whether the real price of efficiency is ceding control over critical infrastructure, and how much room remains to build alternatives before the gap becomes irreversible.

TREND TRACKER

EuroStack: Europe’s bid for digital sovereignty

EuroStack is emerging as the EU’s flagship initiative to reduce reliance on US technology providers. Conceived as a full-stack infrastructure, from cloud services and development frameworks to security standards, EuroStack aims to offer enterprises a credible European alternative.

The project aligns with a broader movement across the continent: from Gaia-X’s data-sharing vision to national pushes for sovereign clouds in France and Germany. What makes EuroStack different is its focus on interoperability, regulatory alignment, and industry buy-in across multiple verticals.

For enterprises, its rise signals that digital sovereignty is moving from political rhetoric to concrete architecture. While adoption will take years, leaders should anticipate both opportunities and integration challenges, as vendor ecosystems shift and procurement choices start to carry geopolitical weight.

Want to learn more?

• TechFunding News - 2025 tech trends for Europe: What experts say will dominate the industry

• Sovereign Magazine - European Digital Stack: Can Europe Build Its Own EuroStack for Digital Sovereignty?

• European Commission - How the DIGITAL Building Blocks Can Help Bring EuroStack's Vision of European Digital Sovereignty to Life

QUICK INSIGHT

Building internal AI governance to safeguard autonomy

As AI adoption accelerates, governance becomes as critical as technical capacity. For European firms already exposed to dependencies in cloud, setting up an internal AI governance commission ensures strategic alignment and resilience.

• Convene a cross-functional body including legal, compliance, IT, data science, and risk management.

• Define common evaluation criteria for AI projects: regulatory exposure, data sovereignty, and business impact.

• Maintain a shared enterprise-wide dashboard mapping obligations, risks, and mitigations.

• Review high-risk use cases regularly, escalating when geopolitical or compliance implications arise.

• Embed governance into procurement by requiring vendors to meet sovereignty and compliance thresholds.

This approach turns governance into an asset, helping leaders avoid repeating the same dependencies that plague cloud infrastructure.

WHO IS BABINI MAZZARI

Our Value Proposition

Babini Mazzari is the strategic IT partner for European companies looking to navigate digital transformation in a structured, pragmatic, and sustainable way.
We don’t just deliver technical solutions - we work as an extension of your internal team, helping you integrate systems, optimize processes, and lead change with clarity and competence.

Our approach is built on listening, transparency, and a strong results-driven culture. Whether you're scaling, modernizing, or rethinking your operating model, we support every client with the right tools, clear methodology, and long-term vision.
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