Our geopolitical reality is changing. As the conversation between our editor-in-chief, Alyson Shontell, and President Donald Trump shows, a shift away from globalization and toward economic nationalism is well underway in the United States.
Since he resumed power in 2025, Shontell writes, “the president has been an evangelist for a healthy mix of new revenue streams generated by global tariffs and strategic equity investments.” From squeezing global trade partners to investing in struggling American businesses (such as Intel), President Trump’s protectionism is sending ripples across the rest of the world. Some of Trump’s policies have been stymied—notably, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the legal rationale underpinning many of Trump’s trade levies was unconstitutional—but the overall impact is world-changing.
While political leaders debate tariffs and trade balances, Europe’s business leaders are confronting other major challenges: staying competitive in the AI age, scaling innovation, and building technological sovereignty to reduce reliance on American hyperscalers and Chinese challengers. Innovation has become strategic, making this summer the perfect time for one of Europe’s biggest technology conferences. This year, VivaTech is celebrating its 10th anniversary. The Paris-based event is a place for the leaders of Europe’s most exciting businesses to meet, share wisdom, source investment, and stay ahead of the curve.
More important, perhaps, it is an opportunity for the continent to “voir plus grand” or “dream bigger,” in the words of Maurice Lévy, who spoke with Kamal Ahmed about the vision and history of the conference.
Not only will VivaTech be a hive of the brightest minds in European business this year, it will also be where Fortune launches the second edition of our list of Europe’s Most Innovative Companies.
“Whatever the signals from Washington, in the defining innovation race of this century, Europe is determined to compete on its own terms”
Although Silicon Valley is often seen as the cradle of innovation, this list is a testament to the unique strengths Europe already has, with companies building innovative products, processes, and cultures in foundational areas such as telecoms infrastructure, industrial automation, and health care.
And there are more European success stories on the broader side of human innovation, too, in this issue. I spoke with the CHRO of Spotify on how she is reinventing recruitment and workplace culture to help the streaming giant win the talent war. Ahmed spoke with the woman in charge of one of the most popular games on the planet—Candy Crush Saga—on how to embrace creativity and longevity in the AI era.
And in a particularly of-the-moment story, Beatrice Nolan takes a deep dive into one of the most closely watched players in the EU’s AI race: Nscale. Read on to discover how a crypto-mining spinout has evolved into a company that’s now bringing in billions of dollars in funding and attracting tech heavyweights, including Sheryl Sandberg, to its board.
Whatever the signals from Washington, in the defining innovation race of this century, Europe is determined to compete on its own terms.
This article appears in the June/July 2026 issue of Fortune with the headline “Europe’s Innovation Moment”
