UK cannot ‘outsource AI future’, says Netcompany boss
The boss of Danish tech firm Netcompany has warned that Europe must build its own AI platforms, or risk handing control of its data to the US or China.
André Rogaczewski, chief executive of Netcompany, told CityAM that AI sovereignty is now a strategic issue for businesses and governments.
“Technology is a battlefield”, he said. “AI is important. We need to prevail as a continent, we need to develop solutions and stay independent and keep the data as an asset.”
His sovereign AI push follows Liz Kendall’s Tuesday warning that Britain must “shape this technology, not just be shaped by it”, with 70 per cent of global AI compute now controlled by just five Silicon Valley companies.
UK AI sovereignty debate intensifies
Netcompany has just signed a five-year partnership with Ineos Grenadiers, which will see the cycling team rebranded as Netcompany Ineos, and use its AI-driven Pulse platform from the Giro d’Italia.
Rogaczewski said the deal matters because it gives the team control over “our own platform, our own data, and our own algorithm”.
“The smarter we get, the better we will be at decision-making, the more we have an asset here”, he said. “We don’t want to give that to someone else, and that goes for any other IT solution in Europe”.
His words land as the UK ramps up efforts to build domestic capability, including a £500m Sovereign AI investment fund aimed at scaling homegrown firms and reducing reliance on overseas providers.
However, industry figures remain divided. Former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg recently told CityAM the UK is of “marginal relevance” in the global AI race, arguing that high energy costs and policy decisions have deterred development of large-scale models.
While the UK hosts one of Europe’s largest AI ecosystems, many companies still rely on infrastructure from US giants such as Microsoft, Google and Amazon for compute, cloud and deployment.
And at the same time, concerns are growing over data control and compliance as AI adoption accelerates.
Businesses are increasingly exposed to cross-border data flows and opaque processing systems, raising regulatory and commercial risks if firms cannot demonstrate where and how their data is being used.