As AI adoption accelerates, Martin Hosken, Field CTO – Cloud Providers at Broadcom, believes the real question is no longer whether Europe needs sovereign cloud models, but how fast it can operationalise them.
Europe’s ambition for a stronger, more competitive digital economy is battling with a hard reality: emerging technologies that are driving growth, particularly AI, are increasingly dependent on cloud infrastructure that sits outside European control. Questions of ownership and jurisdiction are moving to the top of the international policy agenda.
Europe needs a cloud ecosystem that can support innovation at scale while reducing reliance on foreign hyperscalers. European providers need to compete internationally and meet the demands of local workloads, without compromising data autonomy or regulatory requirements.
Approximately 72% of cloud services in Europe are supplied by AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud, while as much as 90% of European data is hosted on infrastructure beyond EU control. This concentration creates significant legal, geopolitical and operational risk, turning cloud sovereignty from a strategic ambition into an immediate and practical requirement for Europe’s digital future.
The zettabyte era is accelerating the drive for sovereignty
IDC estimated that 213,557EB of data was generated in 2025, a figure that will more than double to 527,469EB in 2029. These figures highlight the need for robust sovereign data infrastructures. However, providers, policymakers and businesses must work together to ensure there is a balance between cloud innovation and data control.
With data generation continuing to grow, it is clear why demand for sovereign cloud is increasing in Europe. With regulations including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) and the Data Act – as well as market demand – driving increased spending on sovereign cloud solutions, IDC has predicted that global spending will reach nearly $258.5bn by 2027. These laws do not prohibit data transfers, but they place obligations around data protection, supply chain resilience, security controls and risk management that tilt the balance towards a stronger emphasis on sovereignty and localisation, especially in the current geopolitical environment.
One example comes from Germany-based cloud services provider (CSP) Arvato Systems, which deployed a sovereign infrastructure in Europe to support COVID-related public health workflows. This project highlights that sovereignty is both a vision for European leaders and a viable solution in highly sensitive scenarios.
Delivering AI at scale without losing control
The surge in AI adoption is creating a pivotal moment for European-based CSPs. Enterprises are increasingly prioritising data privacy, security and control, providing European CSPs with an opportunity to play a larger role in delivering sovereign cloud.
AI is intensifying concerns around jurisdiction and transparency, particularly around how AI models are trained and what data they use. There is growing recognition across Europe that AI systems must not only comply with the existing legal framework on data protection, cybersecurity and AI, but also reflect the core values of the continent, such as privacy, accountability and human oversight. As a result, demand is growing for sovereign AI solutions developed within European legal and ethical frameworks, ensuring that European data is not only protected, but also used responsibly and in the public interest.
To address this, many organisations are turning to unified private cloud platforms as a practical route to AI adoption. By deploying large language models (LLMs) and AI applications within private cloud environments, enterprises can harness the benefits of AI while maintaining full control over data location, access and legal jurisdiction.
Laying the foundations for a sovereign future
Cloud sovereignty has become a defining pillar of Europe’s digital strategy. It sits at the centre of government and industry discussions as stakeholders look to strengthen trust and resilience. Rather than taking a single approach, Europe’s path forward will involve a spectrum of cloud models, each offering different levels of sovereignty based on sector-specific needs, regulatory requirements and the sensitivity of the data involved. In this environment, CSPs that can design, scale and operate these models effectively will be best positioned to meet European demand and establish a competitive advantage.
