Poland’s global AI Investors - and the risks of AI to GBS jobs

First Google. Now Nvidia. As Poland racks up billion-dollar bets from the world's biggest tech players, one thing is clear: Europe’s AI map is being redrawn — and Poland is right at the center.

Poland is gearing up for a major transformation. In late April, Kulczyk Investments announced a partnership with Nvidia, one of the world’s biggest AI players, to build one of Central Europe’s most powerful supercomputers. Powered by Nvidia’s cutting-edge Blackwell architecture, the machine will deliver top-tier AI computing services — and crucially, it will keep Polish data on home soil.

The Kulczyk-Nvidia supercomputer isn’t just about showing off technical prowess — though there’s plenty of that. It’s about control and trust. Data will be processed locally, shielded by European privacy laws, and housed in Poznań’s Beyond.pl data centers — already among the continent’s most secure and energy-efficient facilities.
Dawid Jakubowicz, CEO of Kulczyk Investments, calls the partnership an exercise in “pragmatic collaboration” — a signal that innovation, not geopolitics, is driving the agenda.


Google’s radar
And it’s far from an isolated move. In February, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Google CEO Sundar Pichai in Warsaw to announce a sweeping new alliance between government and tech. The multi-billion dollar investment, aimed at wiring Poland’s digital future, marks the beginning of a cooperation deal that could lift the country’s GDP by as much as 8%.

The plan reads like an investment wish list: billions of dollars in funding, Google’s pledge to train one million Poles in AI skills, a fast-track for startups working in cybersecurity, health tech, and education. When two tech giants place billion-dollar bets on the same country in quick succession, it raises a bigger question: Why is Poland suddenly at the center of the AI race?


A new center of gravity
The aim of the recently unveiled plans is nothing less than making Poland a heavyweight in Europe's tech ecosystem, a position the country is well-suited for already.
“Poland is currently the largest engineering hub in Europe,” Pichai said at the event, highlighting a workforce of more than 400,000 IT professionals. That depth of talent didn’t appear overnight. It’s the result of years of steady investment in education, research, and infrastructure — and now, the world is taking notice.


Why Poland, why now?
The government is doing its part too, pledging to steer 5% of Poland’s GDP into digitization initiatives by 2035, and the country’s AI future. A billion PLN have been earmarked to build out a domestic AI ecosystem, including a national AI Factory, the development of a Polish large language model (PLLuM), and public-private partnerships designed to empower homegrown startups.

Government-backed supercomputers in Warsaw and Kraków will soon offer research and business communities computational power that, until recently, was the preserve of a few global giants.

Poland boasts one of Europe’s largest tech talent pools, with thousands more entering the field every year. Combine that with labor costs that remain far below Western European levels, and the country offers a rare mix of quality and affordability. But competitive wages only tell part of the story. Poland is also emerging as a frontline player in Europe’s digital defense.


Cybersecurity-oriented
Cyberattacks against Polish infrastructure have doubled in the past year. Last November, Deputy Prime Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski laid it out starkly: “There’s hardly a day now when critical infrastructure isn’t targeted by Russian services.” In that context, technology is no longer just about economic growth — it’s about national security.
At its core, Poland’s AI push is about sovereignty: keeping control over its digital destiny in a world where data and algorithms are fast becoming tools of power. The choice is clear — lead, or be left behind.


The double-edged sword of AI for jobs
The investment boom paints an optimistic picture. But look closer, and the coming transformation of work looks far more complicated. AI isn’t just opening new doors — it’s rewriting the rules of the labor market, often at a breakneck pace.
A recent report by the Polish Economic Institute (PIE) found that about 22% of jobs in Poland are exposed to AI-driven disruption. And the roles most at risk are high-skill, high-education jobs: finance professionals, lawyers, IT workers.
Women could be disproportionately affected. Around 28% of women are employed in sectors at high risk of AI disruption, compared to just 17% of men, largely because of gendered employment patterns in administrative and service industries.
The regional divide is stark, too. In Warsaw, nearly 45% of jobs are highly exposed to generative AI technologies. In rural Świętokrzyskie, that figure drops to just 18%. Urban centers like Kraków and Wrocław, packed with business service centers and tech firms, are poised for faster — and more turbulent — change.

Source: WBJ