What do Boston Scientific, Allianz Life, Danske Bank, Iberia Express and Bank Santander have that most companies don’t? The answer is a formula for AI and data sovereignty—a capability that separates those who will lead from those who may be left behind.

EDB recently released our global Sovereignty Matters research across 13 countries and 2,050 executives from enterprises with 500+ employees. The evidence is clear: only 13% of firms have cracked this code. Yet these organizations produce up to 5x the ROI compared to peers. In raw numbers, this represents about 134,000 enterprises that anchor $48 trillion of global GDP—from the U.S. and U.K. to Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Scandinavia, India, Japan, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. And in market after market, the percentages are stark. In the U.K., only 754 firms—or about 10%—have the formula. In Scandinavia, it’s 116 companies, about 17%. Everywhere else, the gap between those that are ready and those that are not widens every quarter.

Sovereignty at the national level—and why it matters for business

The conversation around AI and data sovereignty often sounds like a government-level debate. In fact, governments are racing to build their own sovereign AI and data infrastructures. Saudi Arabia has launched Humain, a $77 billion sovereign AI powerhouse under its Public Investment Fund. The EU is investing €200 billion through its AI Continent Action Plan, backed by programs like Digital Europe. The U.S. has unveiled its AI Action Plan, while India has committed to the IndiaAI Mission, aimed at building homegrown compute infrastructure, datasets and innovation hubs.

If you add it all up, sovereign AI and data programs exceed $1 trillion worldwide—roughly the size of the economy of the Netherlands, Switzerland or Saudi Arabia. These are not GDP figures; they are incentive programs designed to shape the digital economies of the future.

Governments clearly see sovereignty as mission critical. And yet, in business terms, the stakes are even higher.

The commercial reality: 5x ROI for leaders

In our analysis, enterprises that treat sovereignty over AI and data as a mission critical priority reap outsized benefits:

• 5x ROI compared to their peers.
• 2x greater deployment of mainstream agentic and generative AI.
• 2.5x greater system-wide efficiency and innovation gains.

These firms are not only reaping short-term benefits—they are building competitive moats. Over the next one to three years, their advantage will multiply if agentic and generative AI systems become the default mode of enterprise computing.

These leaders are faster to pivot against competitors, more effective at shifting OPEX, better at recruiting talent based on proven performance and more capable of solving multiple business problems in parallel. On average, they can resolve five areas of business pain with a single intelligent application, versus just one or two for the other 87% of firms.

The confidence gap is equally telling. Executives from sovereignty-ready firms were 2.5x more likely to predict they would move from “mainstream” to industry leadership in the next three years.

The formula: A mission critical focus on AI and data sovereignty

After running 15,000 simulations across 500 variables, the pattern became undeniable. The predictor of ROI, efficiency and innovation wasn’t geography, sector or budget size. It was the mission critical commitment to sovereignty.

Sovereignty means designing AI and data architectures that are:

• Free of silos—usable anywhere, anytime.
• Secure and compliant—built for today’s regulatory landscape.
• Hybrid by default—40%+ of leaders use multiple clouds, software layers and engineered solutions. And 20% do it in Postgres at enterprise grade
• Cloud-native by design—but experienced seamlessly wherever work needs to happen.

This formula has wide applications across banking, financial services, insurance, healthcare, telecom, technology or retail.

AI and data sovereignty aren’t abstract policy debates. They are the foundations of enterprise resilience. Companies that architect sovereignty into their systems today will lead tomorrow, because they can innovate faster, adapt quicker and deliver secure value at a scale others can’t match.

The next three years

The message is clear: AI and data sovereignty is no longer optional. Governments have already bet over a trillion dollars collectively on national programs. Enterprises that delay will find themselves at a structural disadvantage—slower, less secure, less innovative and less attractive to both customers and talent.

The formula is obvious. The firms that thrive will be those that treat sovereignty as a mission critical priority now, not later. The next three years will decide whether you are part of the 13% that set the pace—or the 87% that watch from behind.

A 15-Second test of your sovereignty readiness

The question for every leader is simple: are you among the Deeply Committed 13%, or in the lagging 87%?

At EDB, we have built a 15-second test that can give you a brutally honest answer. It may jolt you, wake you up or push your team to think harder about the foundations of success in the next three years. Companies like Boston Scientific, Allianz Life, Danske Bank, Iberia Express and Bank Santander have already taken the plunge—and they are building lasting advantage because of it.

If you want to know where your organization stands, take the test and download the executive report and infographic.