European businesses must swiftly improve their AI skills in order to close the growing productivity gap and remain competitive globally. According to a new Accenture survey, the average European worker now produces only 76% of their American counterparts, a considerable drop from the parity of thirty years ago. One of the primary factors is a persistent lack of investment in technology. Although the recent Draghi report on European competitiveness mentioned AI as a potential solution to productivity challenges, the study found that European businesses are not taking full use of this possibility. Currently, more than 56% of the 800 large European corporations surveyed have not made significant investments in AI. According to the survey, large European companies are adopting AI at a faster rate than smaller ones, widening the productivity gap: nearly half (48%) of larger companies have already launched at least one transformative initiative using generative AI, compared to less than a third (31%) of SMEs. Skills are evenly dispersed across Europe, with Switzerland, Germany, the United Kingdom, and France slightly ahead of Italy and Spain. However, according to Teodoro Lio, CEO of Accenture Italy, "Italian companies are rapidly adopting Artificial Intelligence to strengthen their competitiveness. Almost half have already scaled at least one Gen AI project".