New research from Veeam Software shows a growing disconnect across EMEA organizations. While 99% of enterprise decision-makers agree that data sovereignty is critical, at the organizational level, the majority (72.5%) are actively deprioritizing it in favour of accelerating AI.
“Organizations across EMEA are accelerating AI adoption, recognising its potential to drive innovation and growth,” said Tim Pfaelzer, General Manager and Senior Vice President, EMEA at Veeam. “But many now face a critical trade-off: move quickly with AI without fully understanding, protecting, and managing their data, or slow progress to meet sovereignty requirements.”
While approaches vary, the research shows a consistent challenge across EMEA: visibility isn’t keeping pace with innovation.
United Kingdom
Risk avoidance is the leading sovereignty driver. 58% of UK respondents cite preventing data breaches as the primary reason for sovereignty efforts. Yet 45% of UK organizations – the highest in Europe – admit their biggest blind spot is the data used for AI and analytics, highlighting a widening gap between intent and execution.
Germany
German organizations are attempting a difficult balancing act, to reconcile defensive priorities, including data sovereignty and breach prevention, with strategic priorities such as AI innovation. However, when forced to prioritize, speed is winning out over data and AI trust. 82% of German leaders admit that accelerating AI development takes priority over establishing data controls.
France
French leaders are less likely to label sovereignty as ‘critical’ and are more motivated by protecting intellectual property and sensitive information (46%), a key concern for innovation-led sectors.
Middle East and Africa (MEA)
Organizations in MEA are the most mature in their data sovereignty execution (60% fully operationalized) and the least likely to sacrifice data control for AI speed. However, they report the highest reliance on third-party ecosystems and vendors (38%), creating significant supply-chain blind spots and increasing sovereignty complexity.
Overall, while data sovereignty remains a strategic priority, immediate action is still largely driven by compliance pressures rather than proactive governance. The top motivators include reducing the risk of data breaches (44%) and gaining greater control over data (43%).
However, execution remains largely reactive over strategic. Internal audits and compliance reviews (33%) and market expansion (32%) are the main triggers for action. Organizations are also struggling to understand where data sovereignty sits within evolving regulation, reporting high confidence in established frameworks such as GDPR (90%), but significantly lower clarity around newer regulations, including the EU AI Act, widening the potential governance gap.
Demographics
The research was commissioned by Veeam and conducted by independent polling company Censuswide. The survey explores the perspectives of 1,000 enterprise IT, data, and security decision-makers at organizations with 500+ employees across the UK, Germany, France, and the Middle East and Africa (including Turkey, Israel, UAE, KSA, Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya). The data was collected between April 21 and April 27, 2026.
