AI and GenAI in Luxembourg Industry: From pilots to scaled deployment
A new edition of the Luxinnovation and FEDIL study confirms that AI adoption continues to accelerate among Luxembourg companies in 2026. While progress is evident compared to 2025, particularly in the uptake of generative AI and broader business integration, persistent challenges remain, especially in terms of data maturity, access to skills and the establishment of robust governance frameworks.
Between strategic vision and practical challenges
At the beginning of 2026, Luxinnovation and FEDIL joined forces with the Luxembourg AI Factory to survey companies across sectors such as manufacturing, ICT, construction and transport & logistics on their adoption and use of artificial intelligence (AI). Building on the 2025 edition, this new wave of the survey enables a year-on-year comparison of key trends and developments across Luxembourg’s industrial landscape.
The 2026 survey recorded a 20% increase in participation, alongside greater sectoral diversity. The profile of respondents also evolved significantly: participation from smaller companies (1–50 employees) increased notably, while the share of larger enterprises declined. From a sectoral perspective, the representation of manufacturing companies decreased by 10 percentage points, whereas ICT and other service providers became more prominent.
This study continues to provide critical insights into the evolving landscape of AI and generative AI use among key stakeholders, including levels of adoption, emerging use cases and the barriers and opportunities encountered. It also explores how training, upskilling and funding needs are changing as companies move from experimentation to more mature stages of implementation. By tracking these dynamics over time, the survey contributes to a deeper understanding of how AI is reshaping industry, supports evidence-based policy recommendations and helps guide the development of targeted resources to accelerate AI adoption in Luxembourg.
The 2026 findings confirm the strong momentum already observed in 2025, with further expansion of AI use across sectors and functions. At the same time, they highlight that many of the previously identified challenges persist, even as companies gain experience.
Disclaimer: Comparisons between the 2025 and 2026 surveys should be interpreted with caution, as the number and profiles of respondents are more diverse in 2026.
Overview of AI adoption in Luxembourg
AI adoption is most developed in functions where quick productivity gains are achievable, experimentation is easier to implement and risks are relatively low.
AI adoption in Luxembourg remains strongest in IT and digital functions, but is increasingly spreading to support areas such asmarketing and communication, HR, finance and customer‑facing activities, driven by generative AI. Operational functions (manufacturing, logistics) show more targeted use cases. Compared to 2025, adoption patterns are not shifting but broadening, reflecting a gradual, value-driven diffusion.
Figure 1 (in %): Corporate functions adopting AI
Source of data: "AI and GenAI in Luxembourg Industry: From pilots to scaled deployment" survey by Luxinnovation and FEDIL, 2026.
Increased productivity & efficiency is a key driver for AI…
AI is now primarily viewed as a tool for boosting productivity and efficiency, with 88% of companies citing this as the main expected benefit. Process optimisation (65%) and cost savings (64%) remain key drivers. Compared to 2025, expectations have stabilised, reflecting a more mature and pragmatic, business-oriented approach to AI adoption.
At the same time, expectations of cost efficiency are tempered by clear adoption constraints. Although AI is expected to deliver significant savings over time, high upfront investments and uncertainty around return on investment continue to hinder wider deployment, especially when scaling from pilot projects to full implementation.
Figure 2 (in %): Assessment of the potential benefits by adopting AI technology
Source of data: "AI and GenAI in Luxembourg Industry: From pilots to scaled deployment" survey by Luxinnovation and FEDIL, 2026.
Expertise, cost, infrastructure and data as key challenges
Barriers to AI adoption in 2026 show strong continuity with 2025, confirming that challenges are now less about awareness and more about structural readiness. A lack of expertise remains the most critical obstacle, limiting companies’ ability to move from experimentation to large-scale deployment. This aligns with Grant Thornton’s 2026 survey, highlighting that workforce readiness remains a key constraint to scaling AI.
At the same time, cost has become a more prominent barrier, reflecting a better understanding of the total investment required to industrialise AI. Data availability, digital maturity and unclear ROI also continue to constrain adoption, especially when identifying high-impact use cases.
Overall, the challenge has shifted from discovering AI’s potential to building the right conditions (skills, data and governance) for scalable implementation.
*The “IT Infrastructure” answer was not included in the 2025 survey.
Figure 3 (in %): Top challenges in AI adoption
Source of data: "AI and GenAI in Luxembourg Industry: From pilots to scaled deployment" survey by Luxinnovation and FEDIL, 2026.
From data-rich to data-driven
While most companies in Luxembourg have made solid progress in collecting and storing data, far fewer have reached the level of maturity required to fully leverage it for AI. A structural gap persists between being data-rich and truly data-driven, particularly when it comes to structuring, integrating and analysing data for decision-making.
Although a strong digital baseline is now in place across operational, business and customer data, advanced practices such as data governance, quality management and analytics remain significantly less developed. This limits the ability of organisations to translate data into actionable insights and scalable AI use cases.
Figure 4 (in %): Assessment of data availability and readiness for AI adoption
Source of data: "AI and GenAI in Luxembourg Industry: From pilots to scaled deployment" survey by Luxinnovation and FEDIL, 2026.
Time for governance
AI governance is becoming a clear priority, with 48% of companies now reporting formal policies in place. However, a similar share still lacks structured frameworks, highlighting an ongoing gap between AI adoption and formalisation. This reflects a broader global pattern, as McKinsey also highlights persistent gaps between AI adoption and governance maturity across organisations.
GenAI has emerged as a powerful accelerator and stress test for existing governance frameworks. The rapid diffusion of public and easily accessible GenAI tools has amplified the need to make organisations aware of the risks related to data protection, confidentiality, intellectual property, compliance and security when usage remains unmanaged.
Figure 5 (in %): AI governance policy
Source of data: "AI and GenAI in Luxembourg Industry: From pilots to scaled deployment" survey by Luxinnovation and FEDIL, 2026.
Towards more sovereign and secure AI deployment
A growing share of companies plans to develop or host generative AI solutions locally, confirming a shift towards more controlled deployment models. This evolution is primarily driven by data sovereignty and security, which clearly emerge as the dominant motivations, cited by a large majority of respondents.
Compliance is also gaining importance, reflecting a strengthening regulatory landscape, while cost efficiency plays a secondary but still relevant role. Compared to 2025, these drivers show greater consistency, highlighting a transition towards more mature, risk-aware strategies where control, trust and regulatory alignment are becoming central to AI deployment decisions.
Figure 6 (in %): Intent to host generative AI solutions locally
Source of data: "AI and GenAI in Luxembourg Industry: From pilots to scaled deployment" survey by Luxinnovation and FEDIL, 2026.
AI Act: growing awareness, persistent operational complexity
Awareness of the EU AI Act has increased compared to 2025, with a majority of companies now reporting familiarity with the regulation. This reflects growing visibility and the rising importance of compliance in AI strategies.
However, a significant share of organisations still lacks a clear understanding of its practical implications. For many, the AI Act remains complex and difficult to translate into concrete actions. This highlights a persistent gap between regulatory awareness and operational readiness, particularly among smaller companies.
As AI adoption accelerates, the key challenge will be to move from general awareness to actionable implementation, ensuring that governance, risk management and compliance evolve in line with deployment.
Figure 7 (in %): Knowledge level of the AI Act
Source of data: "AI and GenAI in Luxembourg Industry: From pilots to scaled deployment" survey by Luxinnovation and FEDIL, 2026.
The Luxembourg AI Factory supports all companies in their adoption process of artificial intelligence, regardless of their level of maturity. As a one-stop shop, it provides tailored guidance with access to assessment, training, data, sovereign infrastructure and connections with the local and European AI ecosystem. Discover all the services available here: https://aifactory.lu/start .
Moreover, FEDIL organises its AI Excellence Awards. The aim of this initiative is to encourage creativity, innovation and research in companies and to honour innovative enterprises, whose contributions benefit the whole Luxembourg economy.
Greater engagement could help close skill gaps and make AI adoption more inclusive across all sectors.
