Vittorio Colao Warns Europe Needs More AI Compute and Unified Capital Markets

Europe currently operates with less than 2 gigawatts of artificial intelligence computing capacity and must rapidly expand its infrastructure to avoid missing another major technological transition, former Vodafone chief executive Vittorio Colao said on Friday. Speaking at a closed-door press briefing during the final day of the Wave by Vento conference in Turin, as reported by The Next Web (https://thenextweb.com/news/vittorio-colao-europe-ai-compute-28th-regime-wave-by-vento), Colao reflected on Europe falling behind over the past two decades.

Colao, who led Vodafone from 2008 to 2018 and served as Italy's minister for technological innovation and digital transition under Prime Minister Mario Draghi, noted that European funding for compute has begun, but delivery speeds remain sluggish despite adequate technical talent. To foster competitiveness, he urged governments to simplify administrative and labor compliance during a startup's first three to five years.

To illustrate the friction, Colao cited a digital health company where he works that faced distinct regulatory models across France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Italy. He criticized the current outcome of the European Union's proposed '28th regime' for corporate law as 'un topolino'—a little mouse—noting that member states refused to harmonize labor, tax, and administrative rules, leaving only basic business registration in place.

Colao also recommended reserving a modest portion of public procurement contracts for small companies while cautioning against direct state venture investing. Strategic initiatives such as chip manufacturing and energy grids, he noted, represent legitimate industrial policy rather than venture capital.

To prevent high-growth companies from listing in the United States, Colao advocated for a genuine European capital markets union. He observed that Euronext alongside the German and Swiss exchanges cannot match American depth, urging policymakers to move past writing reports and begin implementation. While noting improving risk appetite among European investors compared to five years ago, he pointed to two necessary shifts: successful founders recycling wealth into startups and regulatory adjustments enabling pension funds to back venture capital.

On company building, Colao cited customer and product obsession as the primary trait he evaluates in founders, calling early focus on customer quality the clearest predictor of scaling from initial sales to 500 million. Addressing artificial intelligence governance, he warned that the sector developed at breakneck speed without standard corporate safeguards, necessitating universally respected global rules, while calling for better-resourced European cybersecurity bodies to match agencies like the UK National Cyber Security Centre.