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OVERVIEW
The semiconductor industry is entering a fundamentally different phase.
For decades, the relationship between the semiconductor ecosystem and its customers was relatively linear: the industry designed, manufactured and shipped chips, while downstream industries consumed them. That relationship is now changing — and nowhere is this shift more visible than in Europe.
Europe’s industrial base — automotive, industrial machinery, medtech, and telecommunications — is undergoing a structural transformation. Automotive companies are making strategic choices around compute platforms and software-defined architectures. Medical technology companies are exploring specialised silicon to enable AI at the edge. Telecom networks are becoming increasingly compute-intensive, while industrial manufacturers are discovering that decisions around chips, compute and electronics can directly influence product capabilities and competitive advantage.
Every industry, in effect, is becoming a chip industry.
This structural shift is creating a new demand frontier for the semiconductor ecosystem. Chip design companies, EDA players, equipment manufacturers, foundries and technology partners must increasingly understand not only semiconductor technology, but also the changing requirements of industries building their future products and business models around silicon.
At the same time, Europe is entering a pivotal phase in its semiconductor ambitions — with the EU Chips Act mobilising €43 billion to build sovereign manufacturing capacity, and leading equipment and chip companies accelerating investments across the continent. The question is no longer whether Europe can participate in the next chapter of the semiconductor industry, but how quickly the ecosystem can align around a demand environment very different from the one it was originally built to serve.
A major challenge underscores the urgency: Europe needs to fill close to 1 million semiconductor jobs by 2030 — a talent gap that makes workforce development and skills transformation as strategically important as capital investment. At the same time, European regulatory mandates are forcing a broad wave of mandatory product redesigns across industrial, consumer and automotive segments, creating a near-term demand surge that the ecosystem must be ready to serve.
The Silicon Shift is an intimate, invitation-only leadership exchange bringing together a select group of senior leaders from across the semiconductor value chain for a candid, closed-door conversation. Hosted by HCLTech as part of its Chip2Intelligence Series, the evening will be anchored in the theme “The Silicon Shift: When Every Industry Becomes a Chip Industry” — exploring how semiconductor demand is changing, what this means for the global ecosystem, and where Europe fits into this next chapter.
OBJECTIVES
The evening will create a senior peer forum to:
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Examine how semiconductor demand is evolving as automotive, healthcare, telecom and industrial companies become increasingly dependent on silicon.
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Understand how changing customer requirements are influencing semiconductor design, manufacturing and ecosystem strategies — across the full value chain, from design through to production.
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Explore whether the semiconductor ecosystem is prepared for new categories of demand that it was not traditionally structured to serve.
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Discuss how relationships between semiconductor companies and downstream industries may evolve as silicon decisions become increasingly strategic.
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Examine how AI, edge computing and increasingly intelligent products are influencing future semiconductor requirements.
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Explore Europe’s opportunity to build differentiated capability across design, manufacturing and the broader ecosystem as the EU Chips Act moves from commitment to execution.
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Address the talent imperative: how Europe can develop and attract the semiconductor workforce needed to close a gap of close to 1 million jobs by 2030.
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Enable candid peer exchange among senior leaders across chip design, EDA, equipment, manufacturing and adjacent industries.
DISCUSSION THEMES
1. The New Demand Frontier: When Every Industry Becomes a Chip Industry
Semiconductor demand is no longer being shaped only by traditional technology companies. Automotive, healthcare, telecom and industrial organisations — sectors at the heart of European industry — are becoming increasingly involved in decisions around compute architectures, specialised silicon, connectivity and edge intelligence.
As this happens, the relationship between semiconductor companies and their customers is beginning to change.
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Where is the next wave of semiconductor demand emerging — and how is Europe positioned relative to Asia and North America?
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How are downstream industries becoming more involved in silicon and compute decisions?
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How are AI, edge intelligence and increasingly compute-centric products reshaping requirements?
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How should semiconductor companies respond as customers seek greater specialisation and industry-specific capabilities?
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Does the traditional supplier-customer relationship need to evolve towards deeper co-innovation?
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European regulatory mandates are forcing a wave of mandatory product redesigns across industrial, consumer and automotive segments — how is this reshaping near-term semiconductor demand, and is the ecosystem positioned to respond?
2. Serving the Silicon Shift: Is the Ecosystem Ready?
A structural shift in demand creates an equally important supply-side question: is the semiconductor ecosystem — across design, manufacturing and the broader supply chain — ready for demand it wasn’t built for?
This discussion will explore whether current capabilities, operating models and partnerships are equipped for a more diverse and increasingly specialised demand environment, and what Europe’s growing manufacturing ambitions mean for ecosystem readiness.
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Where are the biggest capability gaps as semiconductor demand becomes more diverse?
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How can design, EDA, equipment and manufacturing players collaborate more effectively?
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How should the ecosystem balance scale with increasingly specialised customer requirements?
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What capabilities will become most important over the next three to five years?
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As Europe invests in sovereign manufacturing capacity, what will it take to move from policy commitments to operating fabs — and is the ecosystem supply chain ready to support them?
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How is IMEC’s EU Chips Design Platform — funded by the Chips Act and designed to democratise access for fabless companies and startups — shaping the next generation of European chip design capability?
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How can Europe leverage the EU Chips Act to build a genuinely differentiated position in the emerging demand landscape — not just in design, but across the full manufacturing and equipment value chain?
EVENT AGENDA
7:00 PM
Welcome & Context Setting
HCLTech sets the context for The Silicon Shift and introduces the central question for the evening: what happens when every industry becomes a chip industry?
7:10 PM
Keynote Address
The New Demand Frontier: Why the World's Industries Are Coming to Silicon and What It Means for Europe
7:25 PM
Moderated Closed-Door CXO Roundtable
The New Demand Frontier and Serving the Silicon Shift: Is the Ecosystem Ready?
8:25 PM
Closing Synthesis & Key Takeaways
Key insights from the evening, followed by closing perspectives connecting the discussion with Europe’s evolving semiconductor journey and the global demand shift ahead.
8:40 PM
Executive Networking Dinner & Drinks
Informal peer conversations, dinner and drinks with fellow industry leaders
LEARNING OUTCOMES
Participants will leave the conversation with:
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A clearer perspective on how the next wave of semiconductor demand is developing across automotive, healthcare, telecom and industrial sectors.
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Peer insights into how semiconductor leaders across Europe and globally are preparing for increasingly specialised and industry-driven requirements.
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A better understanding of how relationships between semiconductor companies and customers could evolve as silicon becomes a strategic business decision.
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Perspectives on where the semiconductor ecosystem may face capability, collaboration and readiness gaps — across design, manufacturing and the supply chain.
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Insights into how AI, edge intelligence and compute-centric products are influencing future semiconductor requirements.
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A broader view of how different parts of the semiconductor value chain — from design through to production — can work together to serve emerging demand.
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Perspectives on Europe’s opportunity within this structural shift as the EU Chips Act moves from ambition towards execution.
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Clarity on the talent imperative and what it will take to build the semiconductor workforce Europe needs.
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Strategic questions and peer insights that leaders can take back into their organisations as they prepare for the industry’s next phase.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND
CXOs | Country Heads / Managing Directors | Direct Reports to the CEO | VPs | Heads
Target Ecosystem:
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Chip Design & Fabless Semiconductor Companies
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EDA & Semiconductor IP Companies
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Semiconductor Equipment Companies
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Foundries & Semiconductor Manufacturing Companies
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OSAT / Packaging & Testing Companies
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Adjacent Industries: Automotive, Industrial, Medical Technology, Telecommunications
JOIN THE EXECUTIVE EVENT
Registration is subject to a qualification process and approval. Please complete the form below and we will be in touch to confirm your access.
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