On 14 October 2026, the European Commission published a new Eurobarometer survey on artificial intelligence in small and medium-sized enterprises. In Belgium, 41% of SMEs already use AI or algorithmic management, close to the EU average of 42%. Yet only 9% of Belgian SMEs plan to expand this use, compared with 21% across the EU. For Belgian businesses, the real gap lies not in adoption, but in how much trust they place in AI.
1. Adoption almost level with the rest of Europe
According to the Eurobarometer published on 14 October 2026 by the European Commission, 41% of Belgian SMEs already use artificial intelligence or algorithmic management, close to the EU average of 42%. The survey, based on phone interviews conducted between 23 March and 13 April 2026 with 502 Belgian companies, shows that the gap with European neighbours is not about whether AI is used at all.
2. Customer service: Belgium's weak spot
Use of AI varies significantly by area. In Belgium, 32% of SMEs use it for customer service and client relations, compared with 47% across the EU, the widest gap in the survey. For logistics and scheduling, the gap is smaller, at 25% versus 30%. Performance monitoring also lags, at 24% compared with 36% for the EU as a whole.
3. Trust in AI is the real divide
The gap widens most on trust in artificial intelligence. Only 34% of Belgian companies believe AI helps them make decisions, compared with 61% across the EU, according to the same Eurobarometer. In both cases, the final call remains almost always human: 89% of Belgian companies say people make the final decision, against 90% at EU level.
The same caution applies to staff-related decisions: 49% of Belgian companies do not trust AI or automated systems for this type of call, a figure identical to the EU average.
4. Fewer barriers reported, but less ambition ahead
Belgian SMEs report fewer obstacles than their European counterparts: lack of expertise affects 38% of them, versus 48% in the EU, legal uncertainty 41%, versus 49%, and investment costs 31%, versus 50%. Despite this, only 9% of Belgian companies plan to expand their use of AI in the coming years, far behind the EU average of 21%.
The AI lens, humans first
On this kind of topic, AI can analyse a company's existing processes, spot repetitive tasks in customer service or admin, and suggest concrete automation options. What it cannot do is decide, on its own, what should stay in human hands: handling an unhappy customer, a staffing call or a strategic choice remain the company's responsibility, not an algorithm's. AI executes. Expertise decides, and keeps watch.
This week
This week, list the tasks where your business already uses some form of automation or AI, even informally, such as template replies, sorting requests or reporting. Test one concrete use case, like sorting customer messages, with systematic human review before anything is sent. Put in writing, even briefly, which decisions must stay with your team.
Vistalaro Pilot helps Belgian SMEs set out, within their strategy, which tasks can go to AI and which decisions must stay human. Vistalaro Build designs the automations and AI agents for customer service and internal processes, with human oversight built in from the start.
Does your business know exactly where AI stops and human decision-making begins?
Mapping that line now avoids improvised calls later.
Let's talk- Commission européenne - Représentation en Belgique, Eurobaromètre : Les entreprises européennes recourent de plus en plus à l'intelligence artificielle (14 October 2026, in French)
- European Commission - Employment, Social Affairs & Inclusion, Growing use of AI in European companies (14 October 2026)