Field Notes: London Tech Week and VivaTech 2025
Europe's two biggest tech events sent the same message: AI is no longer a tool, it is foundational infrastructure. CEOs and CTOs, this is the lead-from-the-top moment.
Last week I had the opportunity to gauge the main events happening in Europe around AI and technology: London Tech Week and VivaTech in Paris.
This year the atmosphere in both events was electric, but it was not just about the usual tech optimism. The message was clear and seismic: we are no longer talking about AI as just another tool. We are in the first days of a new industrial revolution, and AI is the foundational infrastructure upon which everything will be built.
For my fellow leaders, the takeaway is urgent and direct: the possibilities for reinventing your business are limitless, but this transformation demands leadership from the top. CEOs and CTOs, this is our moment to lead the charge.
Perhaps the most powerful concept from the events was this: the new programming language is human.
You no longer need to be a deep coder to “program” an AI. You just need to be able to ask clear, thoughtful questions. This democratises technology on an unprecedented scale, unlocking latent talent across your entire organisation.
This puts a lot of pressure on tech teams who should provide the infrastructure supporting the AI agentic ecosystems, fostering data governance, data visibility, and championing data literacy to get data democratisation and the transformation of the culture towards data and AI.
How are you and your leadership team preparing for this shift? What is the first step you are taking to build your own “AI Factory”?