Europe isn’t short on AI capacity, but it clearly is short on control. While hyperscalers and ‘GPT wrappers’ (applications built on top of the OpenAI-GPT API) promise the moon, organisations are wrestling with a hard reality: how do you deploy AI without handing over your data, your control, or your pace? The answer is a European platform that combines speed, sovereignty and scalability - without the usual IT complexity. Because who still wants to spend years experimenting while the competition is already winning?

This article is based on an interview with co-founder Jan Saan, conducted by Het Financieele Dagblad and published on 3 April 2026 in a special edition on AI & Data Sovereignty.

Not a start-up, but platform builders

Jan Saan, co-founder of GLBNXT, has little patience for the hype. “Most AI projects are IT projects without the lab coats or the patients - or in our case: without the business cases or the domain knowledge.” Together with Richard van Anholt and Remco Magielse - all from CM.com, where they helped take a company from zero to IPO - he is building an enterprise AI platform that lets organisations develop, manage and scale AI solutions themselves, within European jurisdiction. “We come from a world where we built platforms serving millions of users. This isn’t an experiment, it’s a deliberate choice for control and scalability.”

Sovereignty is an architecture

GLBNXT runs on sovereign infrastructure inside the EU, built with leading partners like Dell, Nvidia and SUSE. “Sovereignty isn’t about little machines in the Netherlands, it’s about freedom of choice and control,” Saan says. “Our clients don’t want their data leaking to servers they don’t control, under laws that aren’t theirs.” The platform is already ISO 27001 certified - achieved within nine months of launch, entirely in-house and without external consultants or compliance tools. “Many auditors have rarely seen that. We build with compliance and security by design. That’s not a feature, it’s the foundation.”

GLBNXT will also never use client data to train its own models or anyone else’s.

Every query, user and response is logged and exportable. That’s not just for compliance, it’s about trust.

Saan explains. Clients need to know their data is safe and stays under their own control.

Start small, finish big

Many AI projects get stuck in complex use cases with unstructured data, but GLBNXT deliberately takes a different route. Saan: “Start small, with structured data and clear KPIs. So not how many documents have we indexed, but how much time and money are we saving?” One example is an AI agent that helps municipalities draft public tenders, trained on all TenderNed data.

First time right, and the speed at which you put together a programme of requirements can double. That’s where the real value sits: not in the technology, but in the impact on processes.

GLBNXT also delivers ‘blueprints’ for common processes, such as handling inbound documents. “The underlying processes are often the same, but we give domain experts the tools to implement them quickly and compliantly, with measurable KPIs. That way you don’t spend months reinventing the wheel.”

It’s about the impact

An immature market

Saan sees three challenges: decision-makers who don’t know what they want, IT departments worried about their jobs, and competition from hyperscalers and ‘pretty-website builders’ (platforms that let you build a website without technical knowledge). “Our twist? We deliver a platform that is technically a no-brainer, so employees can get started tomorrow - without years-long IT projects.” GLBNXT works with a subscription model plus implementation fees, and brings in partners for domain expertise. “We’re not a consultancy, we build the backbone others can build on. For complex data projects we team up with specialised parties like CSA Group or SLTN. We focus on the platform, they focus on the depth.”

International expansion

GLBNXT’s ambitions reach beyond the Netherlands. “Europe is moving closer together, and we want to be a major player in that - but not for the sake of growth itself,” Saan says. “It’s about the impact: that organisations can deploy AI within their own governance frameworks, without depending on foreign tech giants.”

Our platform is designed to be rolled out 10,000 times.

Saan continues. “We’re already active in several European countries and we see demand for sovereign AI solutions only growing. The geopolitical dynamics - think of the tensions between the US, China and Europe - are accelerating that need. Companies no longer want to depend on foreign jurisdictions. That’s where our opportunity lies.”

Inside Europe, without the hassle

With GLBNXT, AI becomes a controlled, scalable reality - inside Europe, within weeks, and without the hassle. But despite the focus on technology, human contact remains essential. “You just need to be able to pick up the phone and ask a question,” Saan says. “That still matters, even in an AI-driven world. We combine the power of automation with the reassurance of human support. That’s what clients really want: technology that works, with people who think along with you. We make sure you come along with the change. That’s our game.”

About GLBNXT

GLBNXT provides sovereign AI solutions built for regulated industries. Our platform is 100% EU-hosted, GDPR-compliant by design, and built with zero training on client data. We work with legal practices, government advisory firms, and enterprises that need AI they can trust. To learn more or schedule a demonstration, visit www.glbnxt.com.