--- title: "Few European companies have set objectives in advance for artificial intelligence — Marsanne Studio AI watch" description: "Only 25% of European companies have defined clear objectives for their AI projects, according to a Rebura study covering five countries." url: "https://marsanne.studio/en/ai-watch/few-european-companies-have-set-objectives-in-advance-for-artificial-3addb1/" lang: "en" --- [Marsanne Studio](https://marsanne.studio/en/) [← Back to home](https://marsanne.studio/en/ai-watch) [← The AI watch](https://marsanne.studio/en/ai-watch) Data study · 1 October 2026 # 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 →](https://haycanal.com/noticias/23545/pocas-empresas-europeas-han-anticipado-objetivos-para-la-inteligencia-artificial) ## Figures cited - 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" - 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" - 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" - 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" - 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" - 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" - 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" - 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" - 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.