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The AI economy continues to grow rapidly, despite attempts by experts and industry leaders to coordinate the practical implementation of this technology and identify necessary precautions. Demand for AI chips remains high, with NVIDIA maintaining its leading position in the 2026 annual statistical ranking of the world’s best companies by TIME and Statista, which evaluates global corporations based on employee satisfaction, revenue growth rates, and transparency in sustainability. At the same time, new players are entering the market as the AI boom extends to new supply chains.
Organizations such as Wistron (No. 16), Lenovo (No. 51), and Zurich Insurance Group (No. 70) have made the list of the best companies of 2026 for the first time. Wistron, a major supplier to NVIDIA, reports that demand for its AI servers continues to outpace production capacity. The Taiwanese manufacturing company recently opened a facility in Texas to expand its production capacity.
The Chinese computer company Lenovo, known as a manufacturer of personal computers, smartphones, and tablets, reported record annual profit growth thanks to the expansion of its AI server business. In addition, the rapid growth in demand for physical infrastructure to support AI has created opportunities for companies such as Zurich Insurance Group, which generates revenue by selling specialized insurance services for the construction of data centers. Zurich plans to soon expand its specialized insurance solutions and risk management services for large-scale data center projects to Europe and Latin America. S&P Global estimates the total insurable value of each data center at up to $30 billion per facility.
In addition to AI, European defense companies are receiving significant funding thanks to the commitment by European NATO allies in 2025 to allocate approximately €800 billion to strengthen defense capabilities by 2030. The increase in defense spending in Europe is one of the strongest demand signals in recent generations, notes Yug Lavandier, a senior partner in McKinsey’s aerospace and defense practice. A significant portion of these funds is currently being spent outside of Europe, but Lavandier would not be surprised if, for reasons of sovereignty, the majority of this spending were gradually redirected toward European manufacturers.
The war in Ukraine and other recent geopolitical conflicts have demonstrated to Europe changes in the conduct of warfare and the equipment required. The share of funding allocated to technical equipment is growing, especially for cutting-edge technologies such as drones and unmanned vehicles, as well as for addressing technical challenges in the fields of navigation, electronic warfare, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance.
Traditional market players, including the French defense electronics manufacturer Thales (No. 22; up from 224th place in 2025) and the Italian aerospace and defense company Leonardo (No. 25; up from 126th place in 2025), are seeing an increase in orders. At the same time, non-traditional companies are entering this sector, particularly as suppliers, Lavandier notes.
In particular, a number of automakers have joined the process, sometimes even selling plants and providing spare production capacity. For example, Thales recently announced a partnership with French automaker Renault (No. 42) to develop sovereign drones. A number of new startups are also seizing this opportunity to invest in innovation, either as independent developers or in partnership with other companies, similar to the American venture Anduril.
In particular, the German drone manufacturer Quantum Systems, which currently supplies products to the Ukrainian armed forces, announced significant investments from the German telecommunications giant Deutsche Telekom (No. 7), which owns the T-Mobile brand, and also announced a new partnership with Rheinmetall (No. 287) to jointly develop a counter-drone system.
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