Judith Dada, General Partner, Visionaries Club: How Europe can stay competitive in the age of AI

Judith Dada, General Partner, Visionaries Club: How Europe can stay competitive in the age of AI

AI is becoming one of the most important questions facing Europe, yet many leaders still underestimate both the speed and scale of the transformation. Judith Dada is General Partner at Visionaries Club and one of the authors behind Europe 2031, a new scenario exploring how Europe could fall behind in an AI-driven world over the next five years. The solution, she believes, is for Europe to move faster, make difficult trade-offs and focus on building leverage rather than pursuing sovereignty alone. The Scaling Europe show is presented by Deel - check them out here: https://get.deel.com/ruynb7o4lfjk Sponsors: Mishcon: https://www.mishcon.com/pop-ups/scaling-europe Chargebee: https://www.chargebee.com/events/beelieve/london/2026 SurrealDB: https://surrealdb.com/ Airwallex: https://www.airwallex.com/uk?utm_source=other&utm_medium=partner_referral&utm_campaign=v01_emea_multi_ib_dg_prtmk_mofu_scalingeurope Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction 0:19 - Europe 2031 3:39 - Where Europe went wrong on AI 7:23 - Who needs to hear this message 9:16 - Can Europe change course? 11:36 - The trade-offs Europe may need to make 13:17 - Who is responsible for Europe’s future? 15:06 - Sovereignty vs leverage 20:21 - What success looks like for Europe 2031 21:37 - Five proposals for Europe’s AI future 23:43 - Can Europe still get this right?

Nad Chishtie, Founding Designer, Head of Design at Lovable: Turning non-technical people into builders

More people than ever before can now build software, as AI removes many of the technical barriers that previously stood in the way. Lovable is helping lead that shift, with two-thirds of its builders coming from outside the tech industry. Nad Chishtie is Founding Designer and Head of Design at Lovable. He believes the next generation of software will be built by far more people than ever before, with AI helping turn ideas into products while giving both generalists and specialists new ways to create and operate. The Scaling Europe show is presented by Deel - check them out here: https://get.deel.com/ruynb7o4lfjk Sponsors: Mishcon: https://www.mishcon.com/pop-ups/scaling-europe Chargebee: https://www.chargebee.com/events/beelieve/london/2026 SurrealDB: https://surrealdb.com/ Airwallex: https://www.airwallex.com/uk?utm_source=other&utm_medium=partner_referral&utm_campaign=v01_emea_multi_ib_dg_prtmk_mofu_scalingeurope Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction 0:22 - Why Lovable is expanding its presence in London 1:21 - Building a London hub alongside Stockholm 3:19 - Scaling from startup to 50 million projects 5:02 - Why empowerment sits at the centre of Lovable 6:22 - How AI is changing who gets to build software 7:23 - The simplest way to think about design 10:15 - Why AI could benefit both generalists and specialists 11:44 - Why Lovable focused on the 99% who are not developers 13:21 - Building products for both beginners and experts 14:14 - Nad’s proudest moments building Lovable 15:04 - Building Lovable’s new creative engine

Johannes von Borries and Benjamin Erhart, GPs at UVC Partners: Backing Europe’s next deep tech champions

UVC Partners is a European venture capital firm investing in early-stage deep tech companies in Europe, including Proxima Fusion and Isar Aerospace. Johannes von Borries and Benjamin Erhart, GPs at UVC Partners, back companies working on fusion energy and space systems, where development takes long cycles and requires high capital and coordination between research and industry. The Scaling Europe show is presented by Deel - check them out here: https://get.deel.com/ruynb7o4lfjk Sponsors: Mishcon: https://www.mishcon.com/pop-ups/scaling-europe Chargebee: https://www.chargebee.com/events/beelieve/london/2026 SurrealDB: https://surrealdb.com/ Airwallex: https://www.airwallex.com/uk?utm_source=other&utm_medium=partner_referral&utm_campaign=v01_emea_multi_ib_dg_prtmk_mofu_scalingeurope Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction 0:32 - UVC Partners 1:10 - Proxima Fusion 3:41 - Isar Aerospace 8:21 - Deep tech investing in Europe 13:15 - Fusion energy 16:08 - Space systems 20:02 - Germany’s deep tech ecosystem 24:27 - Berlin vs Munich 27:04 - Germany’s deep tech ecosystem

Michael Bajwa, CEO and Co-founder of Zaro: BREAKING: Zaro just raised $5.1m pre-seed

AI agents are becoming more capable, but most companies still rely on software built for a different era. Zaro just raised a $5.1 million pre-Seed round led by Cherry Ventures to build infrastructure designed specifically for the agentic era. Michael Bajwa is CEO and Co-founder of Zaro. Following the sale of Convergence to Salesforce, he believes enterprises have not yet had their ChatGPT moment, and that the next generation of software will be built around AI agents rather than traditional applications. The Scaling Europe show is presented by Deel. Check them out here: https://get.deel.com/ruynb7o4lfjk Sponsors: Mishcon: https://www.mishcon.com/pop-ups/scaling-europe Chargebee: https://www.chargebee.com/events/beelieve/london/2026 SurrealDB: https://surrealdb.com/ Airwallex: https://www.airwallex.com/uk?utm_source=other&utm_medium=partner_referral&utm_campaign=v01_emea_multi_ib_dg_prtmk_mofu_scalingeurope Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction 0:14 - Zaro’s $5.1m pre-Seed round 2:47 - Lessons from Convergence and Salesforce 5:23 - Making AI agents accessible 8:54 - Coming out of stealth 11:11 - Creating a new category of software 13:25 - Compressing startup timelines 16:01 - Building a category-defining company 17:49 - Hiring battle-tested operators 19:15 - The future of AI-native software

Hadrien Canter, CEO and Co-founder of Alta Ares: BREAKING: Alta Ares just raised $50m

Cheap drones are changing modern warfare, creating demand for new air defence systems that can operate at scale. Alta Ares just raised $50 million to help countries defend against emerging aerial threats. Hadrien Canter is CEO and Co-founder of Alta Ares. Drawing on his experience working in Ukraine and the Middle East, he believes Europe has a unique opportunity to build a stronger defence ecosystem and reduce its reliance on external security guarantees. The Scaling Europe show is presented by Deel. Check them out here: https://get.deel.com/ruynb7o4lfjk Sponsors: Mishcon: https://www.mishcon.com/pop-ups/scaling-europe Chargebee: https://www.chargebee.com/events/beelieve/london/2026 SurrealDB: https://surrealdb.com/ Airwallex: https://www.airwallex.com/uk?utm_source=other&utm_medium=partner_referral&utm_campaign=v01_emea_multi_ib_dg_prtmk_mofu_scalingeurope Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction 0:09 - Alta Ares’ $50 funding round 1:24 - Why cheap drones are changing warfare 3:08 - Combining hardware, software and AI 5:26 - Building a defence company from Ukraine 7:51 - NATO, Europe and defence sovereignty 11:37 - Operating on the ground in Ukraine 13:20 - Mission, pressure and attracting talent 15:44 - Resilience, failure and company culture 17:45 - Raising $50m for Alta Ares 20:05 - The investors behind the round and the future of European defence