Breaking Through Europe’s Automation Inertia
By Michel Spruijt, President, Brain Corp International
A growing number of European businesses appear to me to be caught in a special kind of inertia. They recognise automation’s potential, yet hesitate at the point of action. Recent data reveals that only 13.5% of European enterprises with 10+ employees have integrated AI into their operation, a figure that should arguably raise alarm bells in this current period of major transformation. On a continent-wide level, any kind of ongoing innovation paralysis can risk ebbing away competitive advantage that has been hard to build.
This hesitation isn’t born of technological limitations; the level of sophistication and sheer volume of automated technologies available is astounding and growing rapidly. Rather, it seems to stem from a crisis of confidence within European boardrooms. Having overseen the rollout of 40,000 autonomous robots across public spaces globally, I’ve witnessed firsthand how transformative AI and automation can be when implemented thoughtfully. Yet time and again, I encounter businesses that know they need to automate but simply don’t know where to begin.
Opportunity Costs
The statistics paint a sobering picture. European productivity has fallen to just 76% of US levels, down from historical parity. Meanwhile, 78% of decision-makers at firms across Europe polled plan to implement additional AI or automation within the next two years, suggesting some recognition of the urgency. Yet many struggle to turn intent into action.
Delay has a cost. Companies that fail to act decisively don’t just risk missing efficiency gains; they’re actively falling behind competitors who’ve embraced change. In Germany, for instance, large enterprises show 48% AI adoption rates compared to just 17% among small companies, creating a two-tier system that threatens to leave smaller businesses permanently running behind.
The fear factor is real and multifaceted. 30% of decision makers cite concerns about disrupting existing processes. Recent high-profile IT failures, such as the Crowdstrike outage last year which disrupted services across healthcare, banking, and retail, have only heightened these anxieties, creating a “better safe than sorry” mentality that is riskier than it might initially seem.
Choosing Your Adventure
The key to breaking through a hesitancy to automate lies not in attempting to revolutionise everything at once, but in selecting the right processes to automate first, within a well-defined scope. Start with tasks that are repetitive, rule-based, and currently consuming significant human resources without adding strategic value. These represent your lowest-risk, highest-impact opportunities.
In my experience, the most successful implementations begin with clearly defined, measurable processes where success can be quickly demonstrated and quantified. Modern robotics platforms, like BrainOS, track measurable success metrics that can verify the efficacy of these implementations.
Crucially, avoid the temptation to automate broken processes. If a workflow is inefficient or malformed, automation will simply intensify those inefficiencies. Use the automation planning process as an opportunity to streamline and optimise before you digitise and scale.
Decision Paralysis
The biggest barrier isn’t technical at all, it’s psychological. Many leaders and managers of European businesses appear trapped in legacy thinking patterns that prioritise risk avoidance over strategic advancement. This manifests in several ways: overanalysing decisions to the point of paralysis, requiring absolute certainty before moving forward, and treating automation as a cost centre rather than a growth enabler.
The regulatory environment, whilst important for consumer protection, has inadvertently reinforced this cautious mindset. With the EU AI Act looming large, it’s understandable that businesses feel overwhelmed and want to err on the side of caution. However, these compliance requirements should simply become part of any strategic planning process for European businesses and are nothing to fear.
The Path Forward
Breaking through automation inertia requires leadership that’s willing to embrace calculated risk-taking. Start by acknowledging that the status quo is actually the riskiest position of all. Your competitors, both European and global, may well not wait for perfect conditions or complete certainty but move forward, learning as they go, and gaining competitive advantages with every successful implementation. Begin with small, measurable automation projects, build confidence and supporting impact data and work from there.
But above all, recognise that automation success isn’t solely measured by the sophistication of the technology but by the business outcomes it enables. The smartest AI systems in the world are worthless if they don’t solve real business problems or create tangible value for your customers.
European businesses can keep hesitating as global competitors drive forward, or accept that the real risk lies not in moving too fast, but in failing to move at all. The choice is ours, but the window is closing fast.
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