EU AI INNOVATION MONTH · WORKSHOP

An official partner event of the European Commission’s European AI Innovation Month

Decentralized AI: A New Paradigm for EU Competitiveness, Digital Sovereignty and Regulatory Compliance

A workshop bringing together industry, policy, and academic representatives in an interactive format to explore emerging decentralized and agentic AI systems in Europe, examine their technical foundations, and discuss key policy questions, regulatory implications, and their potential to strengthen EU competitiveness and sovereignty.

📅  10 November 2026 · 18:00–21:30 CET📍  Renaissance Brussels Hotel (TBC), Brussels

Programme

Panel 1  18:15–19:00 CET

Beyond Hyperscalers: Building Europe’s Sovereign AI Stack through Decentralized AI

As Europe seeks to strengthen its technological sovereignty and reduce strategic dependencies, policymakers are increasingly exploring how to build a competitive AI ecosystem that does not rely exclusively on large-scale, centralized cloud infrastructure. The recently proposed Tech Sovereignty Package, including the Cloud and AI Development Act (CADA) and the EU Open Source Strategy, reflects this shift by recognizing open-source technologies, edge computing and distributed infrastructure as important components of Europe’s sovereignty agenda.

Against this backdrop, decentralized AI is emerging as an umbrella concept encompassing a range of technologies and deployment models, including edge AI, open-weight models, peer-to-peer networks, distributed computing and agentic systems. Unlike traditional AI architectures that depend on centralized cloud infrastructure, these approaches seek to distribute computing, data processing and control closer to users, devices and communities.

This panel will explore whether these emerging architectures can help Europe strengthen competitiveness, reduce strategic dependencies, broaden participation by EU startups, and advance a more resilient and sovereign AI ecosystem. It will also examine how future EU policy frameworks can support both institutional sovereignty and architectural sovereignty as complementary pathways towards Europe’s digital future.

SPEAKERS

Peter Ide-Kostic CONFIRMED

Senior Policy Advisor, OpenMined

Peter Ide-Kostic is Senior Policy Advisor at OpenMined, working on European AI governance, data policy and privacy-preserving technologies, with more than 15 years of experience in European technology policy including service within the European Parliament (IMCO and LIBE committees).

Gonzalo Munilla Garrido TBC

Author of GÖD’S GATE

Gonzalo Munilla Garrido is the author of the science fiction novel GÖD’S GATE, which explores the intersection of artificial intelligence, consciousness and humanity’s technological future. Combining a background in engineering, computer science and privacy-enhancing technologies with a passion for speculative fiction, his work examines how emerging technologies may reshape society and our understanding of intelligence.

Zach Meyers TBC

Director of Research, CERRE

Zach Meyers leads research on digital policy, competition and regulation at CERRE. He was previously Assistant Director of the Centre for European Reform and spent more than ten years as a competition and regulatory lawyer advising governments, regulators and international institutions.

Panel 2  19:15–20:00 CET

The Next Competitive Frontier: Open Source, Decentralized & Agentic AI, and Europe’s Innovation Ecosystem

A new generation of AI technologies is emerging beyond traditional cloud-based models. From open-weight foundation models and local AI assistants to decentralized computing networks and autonomous AI agents, innovators are exploring new ways to develop, deploy and scale AI systems. These approaches have the potential to lower barriers to entry, reduce infrastructure costs, and expand opportunities for SMEs and technology providers to compete in global markets.

This panel will bring together industry leaders, think tank representatives and policymakers to examine how these technologies are already being deployed in practice and what they mean for Europe’s innovation ecosystem, with particular attention to the role of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs) in accelerating adoption across Europe’s industrial base and SME ecosystem.

As AI systems become increasingly autonomous, the discussion will also explore how existing regulatory frameworks can adapt to new deployment models and machine-to-machine environments, how responsibility and oversight should be allocated across distributed AI value chains, and whether compliance-by-design can turn regulatory compliance from a cost into a competitive advantage for European innovators.

SPEAKERS

Andrea Renda TBC

Director of Research, CEPS

Andrea Renda leads research on global governance, regulation, innovation and the digital economy at CEPS, and is Adjunct Professor of Digital Policy at the European University Institute. He regularly advises the European Commission, the European Parliament, the OECD and the World Bank on AI governance and digital regulation.

Giles Dixon CONFIRMED

Global Head of Regulatory Affairs and Licensing, Tether

Giles Dixon heads regulatory affairs and licensing at Tether, developing the company’s global regulatory strategy. He works closely on Tether’s growing AI portfolio, including Tether QVAC, a decentralized AI framework supporting local-first, privacy-preserving AI applications that operate independently of centralized cloud infrastructure.

Audrey Herblin-Stoop TBC

Senior Vice-President, Global Affairs, Mistral AI

Audrey Herblin-Stoop leads Global Public Affairs at Mistral AI, overseeing engagement with European policymakers on artificial intelligence, innovation and digital policy, with a focus on AI governance, competitiveness and Europe’s technological sovereignty.

Brando Benifei TBC

Co-Rapporteur of the EU Artificial Intelligence Act, Member of the European Parliament

Brando Benifei is one of Europe’s leading policymakers on artificial intelligence, having served as the European Parliament’s Rapporteur for the AI Act and currently co-chairing the Parliament’s Working Group on the Implementation and Enforcement of the AI Act.

Organised by the Digital Currencies Governance Group (DCGG). For enquiries about this event, please contact the DCGG team.