Report: State of AI in the Netherlands - 𝗘𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲'𝘀 𝗛𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗻 𝗔𝗜 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝗮 𝗖𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱𝘀

🇳🇱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀: 𝗘𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲'𝘀 𝗛𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗻 𝗔𝗜 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝗮 𝗖𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱𝘀
We're sitting on a goldmine. The Netherlands has one of the most dense AI talent hubs in Europe - 8% of the continent's AI professionals in just 2.8% of the population. Yet our startup ecosystem is failing to launch while our best minds migrate to Silicon Valley.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵: We risk becoming Europe's feeder club for American tech giants.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗼𝘅 𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗳𝘂𝗹: 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁...
• 70% of Dutch AI experts work in old-economy companies
• Only 43% of Dutch people regularly use AI (lowest in Europe!)
• Amsterdam ranks #18 globally for growth capital despite being #5 for talent
• Our pension funds sit on billions but barely invest in Dutch AI startups

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴: Five years ago, we were at the AI forefront. Today, we're mostly consuming American AI models. We risk being unable to finance our welfare state if our economy becomes fully dependent on US-built AI.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀: Become an AI shaper or remain an AI taker.

The Netherlands can either shape AI's future or watch others shape ours. We have the talent, capital, and infrastructure. We just need the will to act.

𝟴 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝘅 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀:
1. 𝗔𝗜 𝗛𝘂𝗯 - Campus-style center in Amsterdam
2. 𝗠𝗼𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱𝘀 - 1% allocation = Billions for AI scale-ups
3. 𝗙𝗮𝘀𝘁-𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗮𝘀 for international AI talent
4. 𝗔𝗜 𝗚𝗶𝗴𝗮𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 for sovereign model development
5. 𝗚𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 of AI solutions
6. 𝗥𝗲-𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 for Dutch talent at Big Tech
7. 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗔𝗜 𝗮𝗱𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗻
8. 𝗠𝗼𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 the whole ecosystem can rally behind

It was a privilege working with Dealroom.co, Prosus and Techleap on this deep dive. Huge thanks to the all that contributed including: Fabricio Bloisi , Euro Beinat, Constantijn Van Oranje-Nassau, Jelle Prins, Julien Puls, Lorenzo Chiavarini , Yoram Wijngaarde, Tamara Franssen, and Chiara Parisi.

📊 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁: https://lnkd.in/emf5smgZ