Lessons from the AI Frontier | Matt Clifford and Alexander Rabe

Can Europe still compete in the AI race? And what can the EU learn from the UK's approach?

At the Brussels AI Symposium: Build to Lead, ARIA Chair Matt Clifford and eco Managing Director Alexander Rabe discuss why AI adoption – not creation – will define Europe's competitive future, what the UK got right by empowering regulators rather than layering new rules, and why Europe's cumulative regulatory burden is holding back the companies that want to build here.

Key points:
- Why adoption matters more than creation – Europe's strengths in life sciences, manufacturing, and professional services are where the real value will be captured
- The UK chose to empower existing regulators rather than create new AI-specific rules – "most AI harms are already illegal"
- Europe got rich by embracing the last industrial revolution – the countries that sat it out are not the ones shaping the world today. The same existential stakes apply to AI.
- Why Europe needs real reform, not just extended deadlines – Alexander Rabe calls for a "one in, two out" approach and a digital fitness check on all existing regulation
- Five years of AI Act uncertainty means companies spend more time with lawyers than engineers – and 80% of European enterprises have still not adopted AI
- European founders want to build here – but they need the "bat signal" that now is the time

Moderated by Robin Wauters, COO of the European Startup Network.

Brussels AI Symposium: Build to Lead | March 24, 2026
Hosted by Meta, supported by EssilorLuxottica and eco – Association of the Internet Industry

eco – Verband der Internetwirtschaft e.V.
➜ https://www.eco.de

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