UK firms accelerate ‘sovereign AI’ plans amid concerns over dependence on overseas tech

Artificial intelligence (AI) concept image showing a digitized cube with 'AI' written on it resting on top of circuit boards. — (Image credit: Getty Images)

More than two-thirds of UK companies have an exit strategy prepared if their primary AI provider restricts access – a concern that's increasingly driving companies to prioritize digital sovereignty.

That's according to a survey of 500 IT decision makers across the UK, Netherlands, France, Germany, and Italy by Red Hat, which found plans for digital or AI sovereignty are no longer aspirational but an operational priority.

While 67% of UK companies are prepping for the worst case scenario, the Red Hat study suggested that 43% of those organizations would still face moderate to significant business impact if a primary AI provider restricted service.

“AI platforms are increasingly part of UK organizations’ critical infrastructure," said Joanna Hodgson, Country Manager for the UK at Red Hat. "Many have written exit strategies in preparation for any challenges, but our survey shows that actually executing a switch without disruption remains difficult."

Red Hat noted that 87% of UK companies are already using agentic AI systems – slightly behind France at 91% and Germany at 90% – but while they're using AI, they don't have key business continuity considerations in place yet.

Just 25% reported having strong governance frameworks in place for how they used agentic AI, with 17% saying such governance is "basic or minimal". Beyond that, fewer than half (48%) of UK companies said they had complete visibility of where their data is stored, processed, and potentially accessible, suggesting full AI sovereignty is some way off.

"To close that gap, enterprises need greater control over how and where AI runs, and a consistent way to govern fast‑moving technologies like agentic AI," she added.

The Red Hat survey marks the latest in a string of studies highlighting increased efforts to shore up digital sovereignty across Europe. Research from Gartner, for example, predicted sovereign cloud spend will triple in the next few years.

This increased investment is, at least in part, being driven by geopolitical developments that have sparked concerns about an overreliance on American tech giants.

Last week, the Open Rights Group called for a "strategic shift" in the UK to help boost spending on local tech firms while avoiding vendor lock-in and security or surveillance risks.

Is open source AI the answer?

The Red Hat survey found strong support for government-driven AI sovereignty, in particular focusing on open source principles. Nine-in-ten respondents said that public policy and regulation should "actively mandate" open source principles as a route to achieving AI sovereignty.

"Enterprise open source gives UK businesses the transparency, flexibility and shared innovation they need to treat AI as a resilient, sovereign capability," Hodgson said.

A recent study from Gartner found that roughly one-third of countries will introduce region-specific AI platforms within two years in a bid to shore up data sovereignty efforts.

That process could result in higher costs, however, with nations opting for this route forced to spend at least 1% of GDP to expand AI infrastructure capabilities.

Freedom to choose

The survey results suggest companies are looking for more flexibility in their AI stack and want to keep control, according to Hans Roth, Red Hat’s senior vice president and general manager for EMEA.

"Across EMEA, boardroom conversation has moved beyond experimentation to how AI can be deployed in a way that meets sovereignty, security and regulatory expectations," Roth said.

"The survey results show strong support for open source principles and for clear policy frameworks that embed transparency and auditability into AI."

Roth added that organisations aren’t looking for “another closed, one-size-fits-all stack” and value the flexibility to combine different models and cloud services while retaining strict control.

However, companies need to be wary of "open washing", a common issue in open source AI, where openness can often refer only to specific weights, rather than more widely.

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