Artificial intelligence is reshaping industries, accelerating company creation and changing how technology businesses are built. At the same time, Europe is entering a new phase, with stronger founders, deeper technical talent and growing access to long-term growth capital.

Speaking with Dani Burger on Bloomberg Deals, Carolina Brochado, Partner and Head of EQT Ventures & EQT Growth US, shared why EQT believes this is one of the most exciting moments for European technology in decades.

AI is creating a much bigger opportunity

While enterprise software has created some of the world's largest technology companies, Carolina believes AI expands the opportunity far beyond software itself.

"The software market is something like $1.2 trillion. AI, if you think about it relative to the services industry, could be a $15 trillion opportunity."

Rather than simply improving existing software, AI is beginning to transform entire service industries. From legal services and customer support to software development, the technology has the potential to unlock significant productivity gains across the economy.

Deep tech's moment has arrived

Long before AI became today's dominant technology trend, EQT Ventures was investing in deep technology across robotics, industrial systems and space.

According to Carolina, those long-term convictions are now converging with a broader shift towards reindustrialisation and sovereign technology capabilities.

"For the last 10 years, we have thought that deep tech is around the corner. Now we are in a nice position with AI and the reindustrialization of everything."

She pointed to portfolio companies including Starcloud, building data centres in space, and The Exploration Company, developing reusable spacecraft, as examples of technologies benefiting from this new wave of investment and industrial innovation.

Building Europe's next generation of global technology companies

Asked about the newly established Scaleup Europe Fund, managed by EQT, Carolina highlighted the importance of addressing one of Europe's longstanding challenges: access to growth-stage capital for deep technology companies.

"There is a clear gap at growth stage for deep tech businesses in Europe. We think this was a fantastic initiative."

She explained that, by combining EQT's venture, growth and life sciences capabilities, the firm is well positioned to support Europe's most ambitious companies as they scale into global technology leaders.

AI will change work, but also create opportunity

The discussion also turned to the impact AI will have on jobs, with companies like Harvey transforming legal work and Lovable making software development accessible to a much broader audience.

Carolina acknowledged that AI will change how many people work but believes the long-term effect will be positive. As AI automates repetitive tasks, people will increasingly be able to focus on higher-value work, creativity and innovation.

Investing through the next wave

Technology investing has always evolved through cycles. While software defined the last decade, AI, deep tech and industrial technologies are creating entirely new markets and business models.

For EQT, the approach remains consistent: back exceptional founders early, support them over the long term, and help build the next generation of global category-defining companies.

Watch the full clip here: