This report examines how European digital small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs) articulate and understand “success” in relation to artificial intelligence (AI). SME’s are critical actors in the European AI ecosystem, as they are both developers and deployerrs of these emerging systems.
The analysis is grounded in a Sociology of Expectations (SoE) approach, which understands technological development not as emerging in a vacuum, but as strongly influenced by stakeholder interests, policymaker agendas, and competitor strategies.
The findings show that digital SMEs hold strong positive expectations about AI, which cluster around three main themes: (1) human empowerment, (2) productivity gains, and (3) efficiency improvements, particularly through reduced operational costs. At the same time, SMEs express concerns about the broader AI innovation ecosystem, including access to funding, digital sovereignty, regulatory uncertainty, and sustainability. Key risks are framed around the need to maintain human oversight, ensure system reliability, and avoid excessive dependence on AI.
Regulation is understood in an ambivalent manner. Digital SMEs broadly welcome the EU AI Act as a necessary framework for trust and accountability, yet emphasise the need for clearer guidance, proportional compliance requirements, and complementary enabling measures such as funding, shared infrastructure, and access to data.
Overall, the report highlights a central tension in SMEs’ positioning: optimistic expectations about AI drive innovation efforts and resource mobilisation, while structural vulnerabilities limit strategic capacity. The findings underscore the need for policymakers to engage with these dynamics and develop support measures that meaningfully strengthen SMEs’ position within the European AI ecosystem.
This publication can be downloaded from Zenodo. The publication hasn’t yet been reviewed and approved by the European Commission.
Authors: Alexandros Minotakis, Elizabeth Farries, Loredana Bucseneanu, Sandra Sieron, Molly Newell, Eugenia Siapera, and Aphra Kerr
