AI in the EGI e-infrastructure -- Past experiences and future strategies

Abstract

The EGI Federation has provided federated e-infrastructure services to European and global science for over 15 years. We review EGI's early experiences with AI in the interTwin and iMagine Horizon Europe projects, which built digital twins in physics and environmental sciences and an image-analysis platform for aquatic research. We then examine how the AI landscape has changed since 2023 and argue that the focus of AI in science has shifted from model training to adapting and applying AI to specific domains, projects and questions. Building on these lessons, we present the AI strategy emerging from the EGI Federation Strategy 2026-2030, organised around three enablers: (1) an AI-ready infrastructure connecting compute, data and application resources across the continuum; (2) human skills to know what is possible with AI and how to implement it; and (3) trust, to run AI with confidence even in high-risk environments. We describe the projects implementing each enabler, including federated LLM inference, AI-ready data platforms and AI competence centres, and discuss a division of labour with EuroHPC's AI Factories, RAISE, research infrastructures and EOSC, in which EGI specialises in the customisation and long-term operation of AI for research.