OpenAI Report: The Shift to Agentic AI in the European Union

The Rise of Agentic AI in the EU

Businesses across the European Union are transitioning from using AI for simple queries to deploying agentic tools that execute tasks from planning through completion. According to OpenAI's latest economic research, this shift is already widespread, with agentic tools—specifically Codex and ChatGPT Work—now accounting for more than half of all output tokens among ChatGPT Enterprise customers in the EU.

Rapid Adoption Among Small and Medium Businesses

The adoption of agentic AI is not limited to large enterprises. Since May 2026, the number of weekly active users of Codex and ChatGPT Work within EU small and medium businesses (defined as those with 200 or fewer associated users) has grown more than eightfold. This growth has been consistent across every EU member state, signaling a broad-based integration of agentic workflows into the regional economy.

Regional Disparities in Usage Intensity

Despite the rapid growth, the intensity of agentic AI adoption varies significantly across the EU. Among the sampled ChatGPT Enterprise accounts, the share of output tokens generated through agentic tools ranges from 22% in Slovenia to 85% in Lithuania. These regional differences extend beyond usage intensity to the specific types of tasks and work functions that businesses prioritize when utilizing AI.

The EU Productivity Gap

While frontier firms—defined as the top 10% of firms by output tokens per active user—use AI significantly more intensively than typical EU firms, they still lag behind global benchmarks. In September, EU frontier firms generated four times as many output tokens per active user as typical EU firms. However, frontier firms outside the EU generated more than twice as many output tokens per active user as those within the EU. Furthermore, EU-based firms represent only 10% of global frontier firms, a figure that is disproportionately low relative to the EU's share of total registered companies worldwide.

Future Implications for the EU Economy

Closing the productivity gap requires moving beyond initial experimentation toward deeper, more intensive use of AI capabilities. OpenAI emphasizes that the path forward for the EU involves increasing the accessibility and affordability of advanced AI tools while simultaneously investing in worker skills and confidence. As noted by Sarah Friar, Chief Financial Officer at OpenAI:

“Europe is now in a new era of AI, with tools that can carry out tasks for people. More than half of the AI use among our EU enterprise and business customers now involves these tools, and the number of small business users has grown 8x across the region. Yet there is still plenty of room for AI use to grow across the EU. Giving people the tools, skills and confidence to use AI well will help build stronger businesses and growing economies, with benefits felt across Europe.”