Data governance in EMEA: navigating AI and digital sovereignty

Explore the widening gap between AI advancement and data sovereignty across EMEA, highlighting regional challenges and motivators driving enterprise decisions.

Recent research from Veeam Software highlights differing priorities around data sovereignty and AI adoption among organisations across the EMEA region. While 99% of enterprise decision-makers consider data sovereignty to be important, 72.5% report that they are giving it lower priority in order to accelerate AI initiatives. At the same time, AI workflows represent an area of limited visibility, with 40% of leaders identifying "data used for AI or analytics" as their biggest operational blind spot.

Regional Insights:

United Kingdom: Risk reduction is the primary driver for data sovereignty, with 58% of respondents citing the prevention of data breaches. However, 45% report concerns about visibility into AI-related data.

Germany: German enterprises report balancing data sovereignty and breach prevention with AI innovation. A total of 82% say they prioritise AI development over data controls.

France: French organisations place greater emphasis on protecting intellectual property and sensitive information (46%), particularly in innovation-driven sectors, with comparatively less focus on data sovereignty.

Middle East and Africa: Organisations in these regions report relatively high levels of data sovereignty implementation, with 60% having operationalised their approach. However, 38% cite reliance on third-party vendors as a source of complexity.

Although data sovereignty is widely regarded as a strategic priority, the primary drivers for implementation are compliance-related. Organisations cite reducing the risk of data breaches (44%) and improving data control (43%) as their main objectives. Implementation is most commonly prompted by internal audits (33%) and market expansion (32%).

AI adoption is also influencing organisational priorities, with 68% of respondents reporting that they prioritize broader digital transformation over enhanced data controls. Respondents identify the following as key areas where visibility remains limited:

  • Public cloud environments (38%)

  • Cross-border data flows (34%)

  • Third-party vendors (33%)

In addition, 32% of respondents report significant challenges associated with Shadow IT, resulting in systems operating outside established IT governance processes.

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