Initiative overview
The Apply AI Strategy represents the European Commission's most targeted effort to move the EU from AI development to AI deployment, with a particular emphasis on ensuring that SMEs and public sector organisations can benefit from AI. The Strategy identifies 11 priority sectors for AI integration, including healthcare, manufacturing, mobility, agriculture, energy, and public administration, and promotes an 'AI-first' organisational culture in which decision-makers are expected to consider AI as a default option when designing services and operational processes. For SMEs specifically, the Strategy connects with a broad support infrastructure: the European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs) network, which provides test-before-invest facilities, digital maturity assessments, and access to expertise; the InvestAI initiative (EUR 200 billion total target investment); the Digital Europe Programme (EUR 1.3 billion allocated for AI and digital skills, 2025–2027); and the AI Factories network, which gives SMEs access to high-performance computing resources. The Strategy is coordinated through the Apply AI Alliance, a multi-stakeholder forum bringing together AI providers, industry associations, academia, social partners, and civil society. France, Germany, and Italy, as G7 members, are key implementers of the Strategy, and each has developed national-level measures aligned with it.
