More than three-quarters of European companies view startup collaborations as crucial to their AI strategy, according to a report by Sopra Steria.
In a significant shift in the digital landscape, large enterprises are increasingly viewing collaborations with AI startups as vital to their AI strategies, according to a new report by Sopra Steria and Sopra Steria Next, titled "Open Innovation Report 2025."
The report, which focuses on collaboration between corporates and startups in Europe, highlights the growing trend of enterprises partnering with startups, particularly for the deployment of AI. It was released in the year 2024, marking a turning point in the digital revolution, driven by the rapid rise of AI.
According to the report, 7 in 10 European companies consider startup collaboration as vital to their AI strategy. Furthermore, over 72% of the surveyed large organizations have already collaborated with startups, and 57% have run AI-focused Open Innovation projects.
Fabrice Asvazadourian, CEO of Sopra Steria Next, stated that Open Innovation is a strategic imperative for AI-driven transformation. He emphasized that such partnerships, once a strategic advantage, are now essential for maintaining a competitive edge.
The key to successful collaboration between large enterprises and AI startups lies in establishing clear strategic alignment, leveraging complementary strengths, and fostering trust through structured engagement. Some key approaches include defining a clear innovation vision and engagement purpose, leveraging strategic partnerships and ecosystems, choosing collaboration areas carefully, building scalable, governed AI architectures, and developing mature collaboration mechanisms.
Enterprises should articulate their reasons for seeking external innovations, the business areas targeted, and the value creation model. Startups should align their offerings to accelerate corporate objectives beyond just their product features. Partnerships with cloud providers and accelerators reduce startup overhead and speed feature rollout.
Startups should focus on enterprise functions where AI can replace costly outsourcing or automate non-core, lower-risk operations first. Enterprises need AI advisory services to develop responsible AI frameworks ensuring ethics, explainability, and reliability, alongside scalable platforms to deploy and govern AI across units consistently.
Both sides should be aware of each other’s maturity stages and challenges. Enterprises must overcome internal buy-in and integration hurdles, while startups should focus on adding value with rapid development and industry insights. Participation in industry consortia and compliance discussions helps build trust and smooth market adoption, especially in regulated sectors such as healthcare or finance.
For further information, please contact Laura Bandiera at [email protected]. The press release can be shared via email and the news can be found on PR Newswire at this link: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/7-in-10-european-companies-judge-startup-collaboration-as-vital-to-their-ai-strategy-reveals-a-sopra-steria-report-302465287.html. The press release was distributed by Cision PR Newswire.
The report's findings underscore the importance of collaboration between large enterprises and AI startups in driving innovation, creating business value, and maintaining a competitive edge in today's rapidly evolving AI landscape.
- In the rapidly evolving AI landscape, the deployment of AI solutions is increasingly being driven by collaborations between large enterprises and AI startups, as highlighted by the Sopra Steria and Sopra Steria Next report titled "Open Innovation Report 2025."
- The report, which focuses on Europe, reveals that 7 in 10 European companies consider such startup partnerships vital to their AI strategy, with over 72% of large organizations already having collaborated with startups and 57% having run AI-focused Open Innovation projects.
- As Fabrice Asvazadourian, CEO of Sopra Steria Next, emphasized, these partnerships are not just strategic advantages but are now essential for enterprises to maintain a competitive edge, with the key to success lying in strategic alignment, leveraging complementary strengths, and fostering trust through structured engagement.
