Benelux AI Survey 2025: Belgian companies have strong AI strategy, but scaling issues are a bottleneck

GRIMBERGEN, Belgium, 24 June, 2025 Insight, a leading Solutions Integrator, today reveals the results of a survey among a total of 133 organizations: 64 from Belgium and 69 from the Netherlands. The research provides a clear view of how Belgian companies shape their AI strategy and where their progress halters compared to the Netherlands.

“AI is a real game-changer. The technology is evolving rapidly, and companies will need to continuously adapt,” says David Steppe, Country Manager of Insight Belgium. “Our survey shows that a remarkably high number of Belgian companies already have a clear AI strategy. However, only a very small minority are currently deploying AI on a large scale. This gap between strategy and execution urgently needs to be bridged, otherwise companies risk losing their competitive edge.”

The survey at a glance and a comparison in resultsbetween Belgium and the Netherlands:

Gap between strategy and execution

  • 52% of Belgian organizations have a formal AI strategy with pilots (Netherlands: 45%).
  • Only 6% of Belgian companies are running AI at scale in production (Netherlands: 12%).

Skills shortage hampers scaling

  • 36% of Belgian companies cite "lack of qualified personnel" as the biggest obstacle (Netherlands: 30%).
  • 28% experience integration problems with legacy systems (Netherlands: 33%); 10% point to unclear AI governance (Netherlands: 8%).

Reluctance towards autonomous AI

  • 24% feel (very or somewhat) uncomfortable when AI makes decisions without human supervision (Netherlands: 14%).

Impact of certification on trust

  • In 71% of Belgian cases, certification increases trust in AI systems (Netherlands: 80%).
  • 9% experience no effect from certification (Netherlands: 4%).

On-premise versus cloud hosting

  • 30% of Belgian organizations prefer on-premise AI (Netherlands: 27%), while only 30% choose cloud (Netherlands: 37%).
  • Within Financial Services, 35% of Belgian companies explicitly prefer cloud (above the Belgian average of 30%).

Rise of edge AI

  • 48% of Belgian companies find edge AI "very important" or "important" (Netherlands: 54%).
  • In IT & Tech, this is 54% in Belgium, just above the national average.

“Companies have clearly set their AI course, but are struggling to reach cruising speed: where strategy and pilots are ubiquitous, large-scale implementation remains conspicuously absent. The gap between thinking and doing is the challenge for the coming years,” says Mieke De Ketelaere, Adjunct Professor at Vlerick Business School.

About the survey. These results come from a survey conducted in the spring of 2025 by an independent research agency commissioned by Insight Enterprises. 133 companies from medium-sized and large companies in the Benelux participated in the survey. The respondents are mainly IT, security, and digital leaders within medium to large enterprises (>500 employees).

Insight Enterprises is a leading Solutions Integrator that helps clients solve technology challenges by combining the right hardware, software, and services. We’re a global Fortune 500 technology company with a network of over 8,000 partners and experts around the world who provide access to end-to-end IT capabilities. For more than 35 years, we have delivered and optimized technology solutions for our clients efficiently, effectively, and safely. We are rated as a Great Place to Work, a Forbes World’s Best Employer, and a Fortune World’s Best Workplace. Discover more at be.insight.com. NSIT-M