The share of enterprises deploying artificial intelligence across European Union strategic sectors increased from 7% in 2021 to 18% in 2025, driven largely by accessible, lower-cost general-purpose tools.
Leading sectors and broader economic trends
A study by the Joint Research Centre based on Eurostat ICT enterprise survey data from 2021 to 2025 reveals significant growth in artificial intelligence usage across ten key sectors defined under the European Union Apply AI Strategy. Across the general economy, adoption reached 20% in 2025, up from 8% in 2021, slightly outpacing the 18% recorded in strategic sectors.
Uptake varies considerably across industries. Cultural, creative, and media sectors lead with 38% adoption, followed closely by energy at 34% and electronic communications at 30%. In these high-performing areas, businesses utilize artificial intelligence across multiple operational areas, including research and development, cybersecurity, and production.
Conversely, sectors such as mobility, tourism, and agri-food display the lowest rates of integration. Within these groups, applications remain largely restricted to basic administrative, marketing, and sales tasks rather than deep operational workflows.
Capital intensity and customisation demands
The analysis highlights that capital-intensive industries with existing computing infrastructure have integrated technical tools faster than labour-intensive sectors. Between 2021 and 2025, artificial intelligence uptake among energy firms expanded from 18% to 34%, while adoption in electronic communications climbed from 12% to 30%.
Deployment patterns also differ between off-the-shelf tools and bespoke systems. While accessible general-purpose models drive broad baseline uptake, deeper productivity gains depend on core process integration. For instance, the climate sector demonstrates low reliance on ready-to-use software due to high demands for tailored applications. In contrast, manufacturing shows higher use of off-the-shelf solutions despite lower overall adoption rates, indicating that standard software alone does not guarantee structural integration into production lines.
Primary adoption bottlenecks and policy implications
Despite positive overall trends, organizations face substantial obstacles to deeper technology integration. Scarcity of specialized technical expertise is identified as the primary barrier across nearly all analyzed sectors.
Regulatory uncertainty, particularly regarding data protection and privacy compliance, constitutes the second major bottleneck. To address these hurdles and transition from basic software usage to core operational integration, the report emphasizes the necessity of targeted skills development, organizational restructuring, and sector-specific policy support.
