The latest report ‘Unleashing the potential of AI in Poland 2026’, presented at the AWS Summit in Warsaw, brings optimistic figures that, however, hide deep structural challenges. The percentage of Polish companies declaring the use of artificial intelligence rose from 34% to 48% in one year, placing Poland in second place in Europe in terms of growth rate. In parallel, cloud infrastructure is developing, with 61% of companies already using it, creating a solid foundation for further growth. However, a deeper analysis reveals significant discrepancies. Although nearly 70% of organisations are making AI a strategic priority, only 16% are using the most advanced scenarios – a result clearly below the European average of 22%. Startups remain the innovation leaders, with an adoption rate of 72% and 41% of them operating at the highest level of sophistication. However, it is worrying that 39% of these young companies are considering leaving Europe to scale faster, pointing mainly to the US. Businesses cite a digital competency deficit (46%), a lack of dedicated AI budgets (43%) and rising compliance costs, which now consume as much as 40% of total technology spend, as the main barriers to growth.
The collected data leads to the conclusion that the Polish business market has successfully passed the phase of initial fascination and mass implementation of basic tools. Nevertheless, we are now facing the risk of getting stuck at the stage of so-called shallow adaptation. Genuine transformation and building global competitive advantage require a smooth transition to next-generation technologies such as agent-based AI, which only a fifth of all companies say they are ready for. The clear divide between highly innovative startups and the slower-growing broad market risks draining the strongest talent overseas. The structure of IT spending is also becoming a financial challenge. Regulatory pressures are starting to significantly consume resources that could be allocated to actual innovation, and the lack of ring-fenced funding for artificial intelligence development is limiting the operational flexibility of companies in key sectors such as finance and telecoms.
It is worth noting the need to revise existing technology strategies and gradually shift the focus from the sheer ubiquity of implementations to their depth. Instead of relying solely on off-the-shelf solutions, it seems reasonable to look for advanced, unique business scenarios, closely tailored to the specifics of a given industry. It may also prove expedient to ring-fence autonomous innovation budgets to isolate R&D processes from the ongoing, rising costs of compliance. It may be worth considering intensifying internal team upskilling programmes, as access to knowledge determines the rate of adaptation of the next technological wave. In a global context, maintaining openness to international cloud providers and a diversified approach to infrastructure remains beneficial to maintaining growth momentum. It would also be a good step on the part of executives to link AI projects more strongly with cyber security systems to build an organisation’s digital resilience in an integrated way.
