Artificial intelligence is reshaping economies and organizations across Central and Eastern Europe, bringing both remarkable opportunities and pressing challenges. KPMG’s report “AI in Central and Eastern Europe: Between potential and responsibility” explores how six countries in the region—Czechia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia—are navigating this transformation. The findings reveal a region eager to innovate, yet still working to bridge critical gaps in training, governance, and trust.
Discover where CEE stands on its AI journey and what steps organizations must take to move from experimentation to responsible, scalable adoption—download the full report to explore the insights.
Key insights
Nearly six in ten people across the CEE region report using AI regularly.
AI adoption in CEE trails the global average by around 10%, yet the training gap is more than twice as large—at 25%.
Only 23% of employees say their organization has a formal AI policy, and many remain unaware if any exist.
Risky or unethical use of AI is widespread, with up to one-third of employees admitting to improper practices.
Employees in CEE tend to trust international regulations on AI more than local or national frameworks.
Poland leads the region in regular AI use, while Romania and Slovenia show the highest levels of workplace adoption.
Central and Eastern Europe stands at a crossroads in the age of artificial intelligence. As this technology reshapes economies and societies worldwide, our region is charting its own distinctive path, defined by cautious optimism and significant potential, while also revealing contradictions. As the European Union’s AI Act comes into force and organizations across CEE adapt to this transformative technology, the report provides essential insights for business leaders, policymakers, and technology professionals. It calls for a shift beyond adoption metrics toward building genuine AI literacy, robust governance frameworks, and workplaces where innovation and responsibility advance hand in hand.
Key takeaways for organizations
The findings underline that bridging the AI training gap is now a strategic priority. Organizations must move beyond informal learning and establish structured, role-specific programs to ensure competence and accountability. Governance frameworks, even if imperfect, need to be clearly defined and communicated—silence fosters uncertainty and risk.
At the same time, policies should balance control with enablement: outright bans on certain tools often push usage underground. Fostering a culture of transparency, in which ethical reflection is part of daily work rather than a compliance task, is key to long-term success.
CEE’s professionals are primarily concerned with accuracy, misinformation, and the human side of AI, highlighting the importance of trust, human-centric design, and responsible communication. As the EU AI Act sets new standards, aligning with international frameworks can become a source of competitive advantage—not a constraint.
About the study
The report “AI in Central and Eastern Europe: Between potential and responsibility” was compiled from data collected in the study “Trust, attitudes and use of artificial intelligence: A global study 2025,” conducted by a research team from the University of Melbourne in collaboration with KPMG. It represents one of the most comprehensive studies on social trust, attitudes, and use of AI worldwide, encompassing over 48,000 respondents from 47 countries, including 6,233 participants from the CEE region.
The research project was developed through KPMG’s collaboration with Prof. Nicole Gillespie, Chair in Trust and Professor of Management at the University of Melbourne and a member of the Oxford University Centre for Corporate Reputation. Since 2020, KPMG and Prof. Gillespie have jointly conducted global analyses of societies’ relationship with AI technologies.
In each country, data was collected using representative research panels. Respondents were invited to participate in an online survey, with data collection taking place between November 2024 and mid-January 2025.
The study design, implementation, data analysis, and results were conducted by the University of Melbourne research team under the leadership of Prof. Nicole Gillespie and Dr. Steve Lockey.
The study was realized as part of the Chair in Trust research partnership between the University of Melbourne and KPMG Australia, funded by KPMG International, KPMG Australia, and the University of Melbourne.
The full study and methodological details are available in the source publication:
Gillespie, N., Lockey, S., Ward, T., Macdade, A. & Hassed, G. (2025). “Trust, attitudes and use of artificial intelligence: A global study 2025.” The University of Melbourne and KPMG. DOI: 10.26188/28822919
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AI in Central and Eastern Europe
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