In a world increasingly disrupted by extreme weather, geopolitical shifts, and technological innovation, monitoring our planet in real time has never been more crucial to better understand the changes underway and their effects, mitigate risks and boost adaptation and resilience.
This is where Geospatial AI – a.k.a. GeoAI –comes into play, offering a new level of timely insight and decision-making power across industries.
While most of the buzz around artificial intelligence focuses on large language models (LLMs), a different and potentially even more transformative revolution is brewing in the background: the rise of Geospatial AI. And Europe is right at its center.
What Is Geospatial AI?
Geospatial AI (also known as GeoAI) today is the application of artificial intelligence to spatial data (most often satellite imagery) to detect patterns, monitor change, and track activity across vast areas with exceptional speed and accuracy. Tomorrow, it will be the use of these data to train new GenAI models that will query satellite imagery and retrieve or generate crucial geospatial information at lightning speed, just as large language models do today with text data – but without hallucinations.
At Kayrros, this capability – and this pursuit – underpin our daily operations.
GeoAI is more than just algorithms. A key differentiator lies in the ability to harvest, process, and serve enormous volumes of extremely complex geospatial data, which requires advanced engineering and remote sensing expertise. This is where Kayrros has built unique strength, transforming raw satellite streams into structured, machine-readable, actionable intelligence.
Another crucial advantage is that Geospatial AI is anchored in physical measurements. Unlike large language models (LLMs), which are trained mainly on internet text and can reproduce bias or error, Geospatial AI draws on data produced by scientific instruments and observation systems. This grounding makes its insights more trustworthy for critical real-world decisions.
The technology is entering a new phase. In the near term, we expect the rise of Geospatial AI Foundation Models that will make it possible soon to extract precise measurements and insights from massive datasets at the click of a few strokes.
Over the longer horizon, these models will connect with other modalities (such as language, time-series, and sensor data) to form Large Multi-Modal Models (LMMMs). These future systems will combine the strengths of LLMs, geospatial intelligence, and other data types, providing reliable answers to complex prompts and unlocking new, sophisticated use cases.
With its vast proprietary datasets and deep expertise, Kayrros is helping to place Europe at the forefront of this emerging revolution.
Strategic Applications Across Sectors
While mind-boggling advances are expected in the near term, considerable, transformative progress has already been achieved. The use of Geospatial AI for decision making is a strategic asset already transforming how critical economic sectors and industries operate and adapt.
- Climate & Risk Management: Insurance companies use geospatial AI to improve protection against natural disasters such as floods, wildfires, or soil instability. By modeling and anticipating these risks more accurately, they can reduce claims exposure and strengthen resilience planning.
- Finance & ESG: Banks and asset managers rely on geospatial AI to map physical climate risks across portfolios and financing projects. It also enables them to track environmental indicators in near real-time, providing a new level of transparency and accountability for ESG claims.
- Energy & Infrastructure: Utilities and operators apply geospatial AI for predictive maintenance of assets and networks, monitoring vegetation encroachment, infrastructure changes, and disruptions in supply chains. This reduces downtime, improves safety, and optimizes operations.
- Defense & Security: Governments and defense organizations use geospatial AI for critical intelligence: real-time surveillance of sensitive areas, monitoring military activity, and detecting large-scale leaks of harmful substances such as methane. It has become a true pillar of sovereignty, where Europe can play a leading role alongside the US and China.
Europe’s Unique Contribution to GeoAI Advancement
France and Europe are surprisingly well-positioned among the leaders of the Geospatial AI revolution, thanks to a strong ecosystem that combines public programs, technological infrastructure, and pioneering companies. This ecosystem is built on:
- The Copernicus satellite program of the European Space Agency, one of the most comprehensive Earth observation systems in the world
- Public funding initiatives such as France 2030 and EU space strategies, which provide long-term support for innovation
- A vibrant tech start-up and scale-up scene, featuring Kayrros and other pioneering companies, turning geospatial data into actionable intelligence on emissions, industrial activity, and environmental risks
From the French Ministry of Defense to leading companies such as AXA and BNP Paribas, both public- and private-sector actors are already leveraging geospatial AI to make smarter, faster decisions.
The Next Leap
Geospatial ChatGPT–style models will take this further by enabling interactive, conversational access to geospatial intelligence. Instead of running complex queries or specialized workflows, users will be able to ask natural-language questions.
This not only makes insights more accessible to non-specialists but also accelerates decision-making across industries by putting advanced geospatial analysis directly into the hands of policymakers, traders, operators, and insurers. Beyond these applications, such models also have the potential to deepen our understanding of nature and climate change, and to significantly enhance our ability to model complex natural systems.
In essence, Geospatial AI marks the beginning of a new technological era: one where the fusion of artificial intelligence and Earth observation will profoundly reshape how we monitor our planet, manage resources, and respond to global challenges. By combining scientific rigor, engineering excellence, and visionary policy support, Europe is not only seizing the momentum of this transformation but also setting a global standard for how innovation can serve both economic progress and planetary resilience.
About Kayrros:
Kayrros is the world leader in energy and environmental intelligence. It uses AI and geoanalytics to turn raw satellite data into actionable insights on energy, supply chains, physical risks, nature and the environment, working with businesses and governments to make energy systems more efficient, improve supply security, boost climate resilience, and manage environmental impacts while enabling investors, insurers, traders and other stakeholders to make faster, smarter decisions.
