Data study ·
Few European companies have set objectives in advance for artificial intelligence
Original title, in Spanish: “Pocas empresas europeas han anticipado objetivos para la inteligencia artificial”
- Publication
- HayCanal (Spain)
- Author
- Unsigned
- Published on
- 1 October 2026 · read in the page metadata
Summary
A study by Rebura, a Westcon-Comstor group company specialising in AWS solutions, conducted among 300 business leaders in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, shows that only 25% of organisations have fully defined the expected outcomes of their AI initiatives, and that 37% launch projects at the instigation of senior management without clear objectives. Only 27% of initiatives reach production, 58% are ad hoc experimentation and 19% have no defined outcome. The study points to a readiness gap between SMEs and large companies: 14% of SMEs consider their data ready for AI, compared with 36% of large companies. Security, compliance and data quality remain the main obstacles, according to Rebura CEO Aaron Rees.
Summary based on the full text of the article.
Read the article on HayCanal →Figures cited
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25 %
Share of leaders who have fully defined the expected outcomes of their AI initiatives
300 business leaders in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Spain
« El estudio, en el que han participado 300 líderes empresariales del Reino Unido, Francia, Alemania, Italia y España, revela que solo una cuarta parte (el 25 %) ha definido plenamente los resultados empresariales de sus iniciativas de IA. »
Source: Rebura, rapport "The AI Reality Check: Why Most AI Initiatives Never Make It"
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37 %
Share of organisations whose AI activities are mainly driven by senior management
300 business leaders in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Spain
« más de un tercio (el 37 %) afirma que sus actividades de IA están impulsadas principalmente por directrices de la alta dirección »
Source: Rebura, rapport "The AI Reality Check: Why Most AI Initiatives Never Make It"
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27 %
Share of AI initiatives that successfully reach a production environment
300 business leaders in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Spain
« solo el 27% de las iniciativas de IA llegan con éxito a entornos de producción »
Source: Rebura, rapport "The AI Reality Check: Why Most AI Initiatives Never Make It"
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29 %
Share of organisations following a structured AI lifecycle
300 business leaders in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Spain
« menos de un tercio (el 29%) sigue un ciclo de vida de IA estructurado »
Source: Rebura, rapport "The AI Reality Check: Why Most AI Initiatives Never Make It"
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19 %
Share of organisations with no clearly defined outcomes for their AI initiatives
300 business leaders in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Spain
« Casi una de cada cinco organizaciones (un 19%) afirma no tener resultados claramente definidos para sus iniciativas de IA. »
Source: Rebura, rapport "The AI Reality Check: Why Most AI Initiatives Never Make It"
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14 %
Share of SMEs that consider their data ready for AI
SMEs, among the 300 leaders surveyed in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Spain
« Solo el 14 % de las pymes considera que sus datos están listos para la IA, frente al 36 % de las grandes empresas. »
Source: Rebura, rapport "The AI Reality Check: Why Most AI Initiatives Never Make It"
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36 %
Share of large companies that consider their data ready for AI
Large companies, among the 300 leaders surveyed in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Spain
« Solo el 14 % de las pymes considera que sus datos están listos para la IA, frente al 36 % de las grandes empresas. »
Source: Rebura, rapport "The AI Reality Check: Why Most AI Initiatives Never Make It"
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58 %
Share of SMEs citing security and regulatory compliance as an issue
SMEs, among the 300 leaders surveyed in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Spain
« el 58 % señala la seguridad y el cumplimiento normativo como un problema »
Source: Rebura, rapport "The AI Reality Check: Why Most AI Initiatives Never Make It"
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46 %
Share of SMEs facing difficulties due to poor data quality
SMEs, among the 300 leaders surveyed in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Spain
« el 46 % afronta dificultades debido a la baja calidad de los datos »
Source: Rebura, rapport "The AI Reality Check: Why Most AI Initiatives Never Make It"
Classification
- Country
- United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Spain
- Company size
- SMEs, Large companies
- Industries
- All industries, or industry not specified · Software vendors, IT services companies, telecoms
- Companies
- Westcon-Comstor (cited), Rebura (study author), Amazon Web Services (AWS) (cited)
- Keywords
- AI governance, AI objectives, SMEs, data quality, security and compliance, scaling up
Entry written by Marsanne Studio from the cited article, with the help of an AI model (claude-sonnet-5). The rights to the article and its illustrations belong to HayCanal. Entry translated from French by Claude Sonnet 5.5.