Analysis Group Launches Experts’ Table Series with a Discussion on AI and Competition in Europe

May 14, 2026

Analysis Group Managing Principal Joshua White, Principal Chris Feige, and Vice President Cyril Hariton hosted the first in Analysis Group’s Experts’ Table discussion series in Brussels, convening a small group of legal practitioners to discuss AI at the intersection of economics, law, regulation, and policy. The conversation featured academic affiliate Timothy DeStefano, an applied economist whose work focuses on digital technology, AI, industrial robotics, firm productivity, and trade.

The discussion explored whether AI markets are naturally prone to concentration, given the importance of costly inputs such as cloud infrastructure, computing resources, advanced models, and proprietary data. Participants considered whether scale advantages and first-mover positions may favor a small number of firms, or whether factors such as hardware innovation, specialized models, open-source tools, and tailored use cases could help keep the market competitive.

The group also discussed the challenges of AI diffusion across firms and the implications for Europe’s competitiveness. Participants noted that adoption is not simply a question of access to frontier technology: Firms also face organizational, skill, infrastructure, and investment barriers. The group considered whether Europe should broaden its focus beyond innovation and digital sovereignty to diffusion-enabling conditions such as cloud adoption, data interoperability, and digital infrastructure.

The Experts’ Table series forms part of Analysis Group’s ongoing commitment to convening focused, high-level conversations on emerging issues affecting clients across Europe and globally.