Europe’s healthcare sector lags on AI uptake – but leads once it starts using it

Fewer healthcare organisations use AI than the European average, but those that do are more likely to use several tools, have formal safeguards and report stronger returns than businesses in other industries

Europe’s healthcare sector is adopting artificial intelligence more slowly than other industries – but organisations that have taken the plunge are using it more extensively and seeing some of the strongest returns, according to new research.

A study commissioned by Amazon Web Services (AWS) found that 41 per cent of healthcare organisations across Europe have adopted AI, compared with 54 per cent across industries as a whole.

Among those already using it, however, 55 per cent consistently use several AI tools, compared with an average of 45 per cent in other sectors, while only 13 per cent remain at the experimental stage.

Healthcare organisations were also more likely to have formal safeguards around the technology. Some 36 per cent have a formal AI strategy, against 31 per cent elsewhere, while 18 per cent have formal data-governance frameworks – almost twice the cross-industry average of 10 per cent.

The findings come from AWS’s Unlocking Europe’s AI Potential study, based on a survey of 17,000 business leaders across 17 European markets.

The report, published today, also found that 28 per cent of healthcare organisations said returns from AI had significantly or massively exceeded their investment, while 60 per cent reported higher revenue and 55 per cent major productivity gains.

It also found healthcare leaders were more bullish about the technology than those in other industries, with 39 per cent expecting AI to completely transform the sector compared with 30 per cent across Europe as a whole. Just four per cent expected it to have little or no impact.

But healthcare also faces the biggest digital skills problem of any sector surveyed. Only 24 per cent rated their workforce’s digital skills as good or excellent, against 36 per cent elsewhere, while 54 per cent said a lack of skills was their biggest barrier to adopting AI. More than half – 56 per cent – also said spending on regulatory compliance had increased significantly.

Among healthcare companies highlighted by AWS were Munich Leukaemia Laboratory, which uses AI and cloud-based genomics to help diagnose rare leukaemia subtypes in hours or days rather than weeks, and Callyope, which is developing technology designed to detect early signs of mental-health relapse.

Dr Myriam Fernández, head of health innovation for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at AWS, said: “Healthcare is a shining example of responsible European AI: deliberate, well-governed and measured by outcomes that matter.

“The returns are among the strongest on the continent, and our 2026 Pioneers prove it. But right now we’re driving with the brakes on. We must close the skills gap and build rules clear and proportionate enough to let these innovators move at the speed their patients need.”

READ MORE: Healthcare AI plans hampered by spreadsheets and legacy systems. Strada research finds 84 per cent of healthcare employers still use backup systems or manual processes alongside their main HR platform. 

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_{Main image: European healthcare organisations are adopting AI more slowly than other sectors, but those using it are deploying the technology more extensively and reporting some of the strongest returns. Image:  Carloscruz Artgrafia via Pexels}