Romania in the Central and Eastern Europe AI ranking: high potential, slow implementation

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This article evaluates Romania’s position in the CEE AI Index 2026 and shows a clear gap between strong policy foundations and slow business adoption. Romania has a national AI strategy, access to EuroHPC infrastructure, and a growing public investment pipeline, yet advanced AI usage among companies remains very low. The piece argues that governance maturity, institutional execution, and procurement readiness matter more than raw infrastructure alone. It also highlights where vendors and investors can find opportunity, especially in regulatory sandboxes, cybersecurity guidance, and public-sector AI procurement. The broader regional takeaway is that AI readiness now depends on implementation capacity, not just ambition or connectivity.

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