Invited onto the stage by journalist Olivia Kinghorst during the third edition of Nexus Luxembourg, Octave Klaba made technological sovereignty the focus of his speech. For him, ‘sovereign AI’ refers, above all, to ‘the ability to innovate, deploy and scale up artificial intelligence whilst retaining control over data, infrastructure and strategic choices’.
The CEO reflected on the journey the company has taken since OVHcloud was founded in 1999, when he was still an engineering student. “This curiosity has taken us from hosting to the cloud, from the cloud to data, from data to AI, and probably tomorrow from AI to quantum computing,” he summarised. Twenty-seven years on, the group boasts a turnover of €1.2bn, 3,500 employees, 46 data centres, a presence in 16 countries and 250 megawatts of energy capacity across its infrastructure.
Beyond the group’s growth, Octave Klaba focused particularly on developments in the artificial intelligence market. In his view, the first wave of investment launched at the start of the generative AI boom has profoundly transformed the global technology ecosystem. “Today, it is much easier to bring very good models to market,” he said.
Four key elements combined
The CEO of OVHcloud believes that the four key elements required for the development of AI – teams, algorithms, data and GPU infrastructure – are now more accessible. In particular, he highlights that scientific knowledge has advanced significantly thanks to publications in recent years and that the quality of data has become more important than its raw volume. “In the early days of AI, everyone thought that whoever had the most data would win. Now we know that it is the quality of the data that will make the difference,” he explained, referring in particular to the rise of synthetic data.
According to him, changes in infrastructure costs are another major factor. “If you wanted to invest a billion four years ago, the equivalent today is between 100 and 200 million for the same, or even greater, capacity,” said Octave Klaba. A reduction in financial barriers that could pave the way for a new generation of European players capable of developing their own models and platforms.
In this context, the founder of OVHcloud believes that Europe now has a real opportunity. “We have the teams in Europe, we have very talented people,” he emphasised, whilst acknowledging the current dominance of American hyperscalers across a large part of the European cloud market.
Aligning ‘capital, labour and execution’
The executive also highlighted the partnership strategy developed by OVHcloud to accelerate its expansion into sovereign AI. In particular, he cited the collaboration established with the Luxembourg-based company Deep to combine technology, market access and customer trust. This ecosystem-based approach has led OVHcloud, alongside its partners, to be selected by the European Commission to provide a sovereign cloud infrastructure.
The interview also touched on Octave Klaba’s return to the helm of the group. Having served as CEO and CTO for 16 years, followed by seven years as chairman, the entrepreneur has resumed the role of CEO against the backdrop of the AI revolution. “This is a historic moment,” he explained, believing it necessary to align “capital, labour and execution” under a single leadership in order to speed up strategic decision-making.
The businessman, who points out that he still holds around 80% of OVHcloud’s capital, now acknowledges that he wants to accelerate the group’s transformation in order to capitalise on opportunities related to AI. For him, the key question is: how to finance the massive investments needed to train models, refine them, bring products to market and generate enough revenue to then reinvest in the next phase of growth. “If you don’t make money, you can’t reinvest,” he concluded.
