THE COST OF FAILURE: How Europe regulates itself out of the Tech race - and how to win it back

​The Columbia Business School Alumni Club of London and the Harvard Kennedy School Alumni Network in the UK are pleased to host Oliver Coste — tech entrepreneur, former adviser at the European Commission and the French Prime Minister’s office, and author of the Strasser Prize–winning book L'Europe, la Tech et la Guerre.

Oliver Coste's research advances a provocative thesis: Europe's tech lag behind the US and China stems less from a shortage of talent or capital than from its "cost of failure" — restructuring and severance regimes that penalise risk-taking and deter investment in disruptive innovation. His framework has since informed the European Commission's own Competitiveness Compass.
Join us for a frank discussion of the diagnosis, the proposed reforms, and what they mean for founders, investors, and policymakers navigating Europe's competitiveness crisis.

About the Speaker
Oliver Coste blends public-sector insight, entrepreneurial track record, and deep technological expertise. After the European Commission and the French Prime Minister's office — where he helped integrate Airbus into a single European company — he launched a mobile TV business at Alcatel-Lucent and co-founded a video-chat startup later adopted by Microsoft, IBM, and SoftBank.
Based in New York since 2014, he now advises companies on AI and digital transformation. His policy research focuses on how Europe can compete in disruptive innovation without sacrificing social cohesion — work that has shaped debate at the highest levels of European policymaking.

​The Programme

• Keynote Address: Oliver will set out the core thesis of his research — why Europe has fallen behind the US and China in tech, the "cost of failure" at the heart of the problem, and the reforms needed to close the gap.
• Audience Q&A: An open session for attendees to engage on European competitiveness, disruptive innovation, employment and restructuring reform, and the path forward for entrepreneurs, investors, and policymakers.

Don't miss this opportunity to hear one of the sharpest voices on Europe's tech competitiveness.

Event hosted by William Germain – Co-President of the Columbia Business School Alumni Club of London, and Vice-President of the Harvard Kennedy School Alumni Network in the UK.

This session is open to all alumni of Harvard University and Columbia University, as well as select peer institutions.

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When

Wednesday, 8 July 2026
6 pm UK time
Online, via Zoom
Free 

Kindly organised by William Germain

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