Europe may be trailing in the global AI race, but that doesn’t mean it has nothing to say. That was the message from Daniela Braga, president of Defined.ai, at Jornal Económico’s 10th anniversary conference in Porto on October 7. For anyone following Daniela Braga AI commentary, her line was memorable: Europe must be the adult in the room.
Rules, but smarter ones
Braga knows Europe’s reputation. Americans find rules unpopular, and Europeans often get criticized for analysis paralysis. Her answer is not to scrap the rulebook. She wants a lighter touch with the same rigor, and she sees Europe’s role in artificial intelligence as setting limits on technology that serves humanity “for good and for evil.”
Builders and users
She explained the global picture simply. The United States and China are building the ecosystem, with heavy investment and many players working on three pillars: models, data centers and data. Other regions may not build, but they still become part of the system as users. Those on both sides matter, she argued, because they are two sides of the same coin. That’s where AI governance Europe debates get practical: who sets conditions when most of the tools come from somewhere else?
A shot of productivity for small businesses
Braga was optimistic about Portugal’s economy. The country is still seen as low-productivity by European and OECD standards, yet 98% of its businesses are micro-enterprises. For companies with fewer than ten people, she says, AI can lift output toward that of a hundred-person firm, with productivity gains of around ten times.
What it looks like inside a company
At her own firm, Defined.ai ran an AI transformation this year across all departments and asked everyone to use the tools. A salesperson who once sent 20 emails a day to clients can now send 300 personalized ones. Think of it as giving every employee a small crew of assistants. For small teams running lean, flexible coworking solutions can pair nicely with this kind of leverage, keeping overhead low while output grows.
The takeaway
Europe won’t win by copying Washington or Beijing. Braga’s view is that it can lead by setting sensible limits while helping its small businesses adopt the technology fast. For more on how AI is reshaping European tech, devs.com.pt is a useful place to keep reading.
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