Sovereign AI: opportunities, challenges

In recent years, artificial intelligence has evolved from a vision of the future to a reality in companies and public institutions. IT managers in administration, universities and the energy sector in particular are increasingly asking themselves the question: how can AI be used to ensure security, data protection and control over their own data? The term „sovereign AI“ is becoming increasingly important - not just as a technical approach, but as a strategic necessity. This article explains what sovereign AI means, why it is indispensable for organizations and how it can be implemented using the example of the Gisa AI Family.

What does sovereign AI mean?

The term „sovereign AI“ describes AI solutions that give companies and public institutions control over their data, its processing and the use of the technology. This includes several key aspects:

Data protection: This includes protecting personal and sensitive data from misuse. The focus is on the right to informational self-determination and compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Data sovereignty: The organization determines where and how its data is stored, processed and used - without external access rights.

Jurisdictional sovereignty: The AI works exclusively in the desired jurisdiction, for example within Germany or the EU. This means that the data is protected from access by the US Cloud Act, for example, and the EU AI Act is complied with.

Technological sovereignty: This aspect includes the use of open, standardized technologies (e.g. open source) that enable transparency and traceability in data processing.

Operational sovereignty: Control over the operation and infrastructure of the AI solution lies with the company itself - from provisioning and management to monitoring access.
Only the interplay of these facets makes it possible to operate AI in a truly sovereign manner and also avoid the risk of shadow AI. Digital sovereignty is a decisive competitive factor for organizations today. Companies and public institutions are increasingly reliant on AI applications to optimize processes, use knowledge and drive innovation.

Sovereign AI solutions enable the secure and compliant use of AI that meets the specific requirements of companies, universities and public institutions. The successful use of AI begins with a clear strategy and the involvement of all relevant stakeholders. The following recommendations have proven their worth:

Needs analysis and ideation workshop: Identify specific potential uses of AI in your company or institution. A structured workshop helps to develop practical and value-adding use cases. Check whether all legal requirements are met. Rely on solutions that are GDPR-compliant and operated in the desired legal area. Train your employees in the use of AI and create clear guidelines for its use. This will promote acceptance and minimize risks. Integrate the AI solution into your existing IT landscape to avoid media disruptions and increase efficiency. Start with pilot projects that have clear goals and key performance indicators. Continue to develop the solutions step by step and actively take users along on the journey.

The Gisa AI Family is an example of the successful implementation of sovereign AI in companies and public institutions. It combines modern AI technologies with the highest data protection and compliance standards and is operated in the BSI-certified Gisa data center in Germany. The architecture of the Gisa AI Family relies on modern technologies such as Kubernetes (an open source platform for automated management, scaling and deployment of applications), powerful GPU servers and vector databases (stores data in the form of mathematical vectors) for intelligent searches in corporate knowledge. Comprehensive authorization management ensures that the AI can only access approved data.

Opportunities and next steps

Sovereign AI is more than wishful thinking: it is technically and organizationally feasible today and offers organizations the opportunity to drive innovation securely and independently. The Gisa AI Family shows how modern AI solutions can be designed in a practical, data protection-compliant and flexible way - and thus delivers real added value for digital transformation.

Source: Gisa