Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal’s welcoming remarks at Tallinn Digital Summit 2025

During its eight years, the Tallinn Digital Summit has become the place where technology meets geopolitics. Where political leadership, tech companies, innovators and end-users gather to share experience and best practices. We have different roles, but we share one aim: to build strong and adaptable societies.

Here in Tallinn, AI is not discussed as a gadget or a trend. It is a capability. It is shaping the future of democracy, the global order, and our shared security.

Let me keep it simple today with three points.

First - security through innovation.

Back in 1997, our first president after restoring independence, Lennart Meri said, and I quote: "Security is not milk you pour from one mug into another, so that one will contain increasingly less and the other will brim over. We aim, all of us, at a level and stable balance that ensures our collective security." End of quote.

These words are even more true today. No country can build security in isolation. It depends on shared effort, cooperation, and vision. AI can help to keep that balance if we use it wisely.

Russia's illegal war against Ukraine has shaken the world we knew. The human cost is terrible, but Ukraine has endured thanks to the bravery of its army and people. And to the smart use of technology. One example is the DELTA system - an AI powered platform that processes a huge amount of data and gives commanders real-time situational awareness.

Estonia knows what it means to live on the digital frontline. We built resilience after the 2007 cyberattacks and turned that experience into strength. Today we invest in AI-based cyber-defence and move toward quantum-safe cryptography to protect our digital services from future risks.

AI gives us advantage that size alone cannot. This is why we have an AI strategy for defence and a Force Transformation Command within the Estonian Defence Forces. With industry, startups, and the military working side by side, we move from idea to field faster.

Russia's war has made one thing clear: the side that can integrate technology faster has the advantage. Ukraine has shown it. So, while supporting them in every way, we also learn from them.

Second - growth through technology.

AI is more than defence. Innovation and productivity keep nations strong long after wars end. AI helps us manage health care, aging populations, shape transport, fight climate change, and use our resources more wisely. It is an engine of growth that makes our economies work smarter. Estonia is a fully digitalized state and society, with services that are trusted, fast and simple. For us, technological advantages and economic growth go hand in hand.

The next milestone is to be among world leaders in AI. AI transformation is not only a government task. It grows from collaboration between business, researchers, and public institutions. Together we build solutions that serve both growth and society. We already see it in practice. From energy systems balancing renewables to cybersecurity companies exporting trusted solutions across Europe. While technology will keep changing, growth comes from innovation, and the courage to act early.

Third - trust through people and values.

Our vision is not just about technology. It is about values. Because technology means nothing without people who can use it and question it. This is why we invest in education. Our National AI Leap gives every child and teacher free access to modern AI tools. We combine that with critical thinking, cyber hygiene, and AI literacy. People must know when AI is used, what it does, and who is responsible.

AI should widen opportunities, not narrow them. This is why we fight for linguistic diversity. Small languages must not be left behind. Estonian must live in global AI systems. We work with partners worldwide to make this real and share what we learn.

Dear guests,

AI brings risks. Hostile actors already use it to scale cyberattacks and spread disinformation. At the same time, the world is tense and more divided. Competing technological visions and struggles for digital dominance will define how AI is used. The race for AI leadership is also a race of values. Who writes the standards? Whose defaults shape daily life? We need international rules and governance that unlock what is good in AI and limit what is harmful.

Tallinn Digital Summit has become a place where democracies shape the balance between technology and geopolitics. We stand at a crossroads. The choice is not between optimism and fear. It is between drifting and doing. Let's choose to do. To build, invest, and lead. If we get this right, AI will not write our values. Our values will write our AI.

I wish you clear minds, bold ideas, and useful discussions. Have a good summit!

Thank you!

Government Communication Unit