UpCloud Connect Stockholm: Powering Sovereignty and Innovation

On September 18th, we held another edition of UpCloud Connect in Stockholm, our event series dedicated to shaping Europe’s cloud future. Together with our strategic partners Aiven and Cloud2, and valued customer Hailey HR, we explored the challenges and opportunities European businesses face in a world dominated by U.S. hyperscalers and shifting geopolitical dynamics.

As digital sovereignty and strategic autonomy rise to the top of the European agenda, the evening’s discussions showed just how important collaboration is in building a resilient, high-performance cloud ecosystem that puts European values first. Opening the event, Mikael Storbjörk, Partner Manager at UpCloud, underlined the importance of joint efforts across the ecosystem:

“Shaping the future of the European cloud is not something any single company can do alone. It requires trust, cooperation, and shared responsibility across partners, providers, and customers. Together, we can build a cloud that not only competes globally but reflects European values of sovereignty, transparency, and resilience.” 

Mikael Storbjörk, Partner Manager at UpCloud

Real-world journeys and forward-looking solutions

The evening opened with Hailey HR, Founder and Chief Engineer, Peter Weibull who shared their story of redesigning the architecture of a modern SaaS to run on a European cloud. Their migration from Azure to UpCloud highlighted the technical and strategic drivers behind moving closer to their customers and ensuring compliance without sacrificing innovation.

“Our migration wasn’t just about infrastructure, it was also about ownership. Running on a European cloud brings us closer to our customers and ensures compliance – something both we and our customers value highly. It also gives us more room to innovate without compromise.”

Peter Weibull, Founder & Chief Engineer at Hailey HR

Next, Cloud2’s CTO, Mikko Laakkonen, took the stage to unpack the future of sovereign AI. He outlined how regulatory demands and industry priorities are reshaping AI infrastructure, and why European organizations must embrace locally anchored solutions to stay secure, compliant, and innovative. According to Mikko: “AI is reshaping industries, but sovereignty must remain at the core. By building AI infrastructure on European terms, we can ensure that innovation goes hand in hand with compliance, security, and trust.” 

After a lively networking break, Guilherme Caminha, Senior Software Engineer, from Aiven delivered an engaging demo, taking the presentations to practice and showing how to go from prompt to production by using AI with Terraform to build a sovereign and ultra-fast Kafka workflow on UpCloud. The session offered a hands-on glimpse into how AI-driven infrastructure can accelerate innovation while staying rooted in Europe.

Collaboration at the core

At UpCloud Connect Stockholm, one theme rose above all others: collaboration. The future of the European cloud depends on building bridges and strategic partnerships, not only between providers and customers, but across the entire technology ecosystem. By building cloud partnerships in Europe, for Europe, businesses can ensure their growth is supported by infrastructure that prioritises digital sovereignty, EU compliance, security, and performance.

This collaborative model goes beyond technology. It’s about creating a trusted, resilient European cloud ecosystem that reduces dependence on non-European hyperscalers and gives organisations more control over their data. From secure SaaS migration projects to AI-driven infrastructure demos, the event highlighted how innovation, sovereignty, and resilience come together when local partners join forces.

The key takeaway: European partnerships are not just an alternative — they are a competitive advantage. They allow businesses to scale securely, meet regulatory requirements with confidence, and foster sustainable digital growth across the EU.

What’s next?

With Stockholm as another successful stop in our 2025 Connect series, we’re excited to continue the conversation across Europe. 

“In today’s geopolitical landscape, Europe needs a strong cloud ecosystem built on trust and collaboration. The momentum we’re seeing at events like UpCloud Connect shows that European businesses are ready to take control of their digital future.” 

Mikael Storbjörk, Partner Manager at UpCloud

Stay tuned for updates on upcoming events and join us as we keep shaping Europe’s cloud future — together. Ready to experience it firsthand? Sign up and explore UpCloud today.