This year’s Leaseurope & Eurofinas Annual Convention took place on October 9–10 at the Hotel Miragem in Cascais, Portugal.

The event brought together over 400 senior executives, regulators, and thought leaders from across Europe’s leasing, automotive rental, and consumer credit sectors. The programme featured keynote speeches from Paulo Portas (former Deputy Prime Minister of Portugal) and William De Vijlder (BNP Paribas), and covered topics such as:

  • Sustainable finance and ESG reporting
  • Energy transition and green asset financing
  • Artificial Intelligence and digital transformation
  • Automotive finance and mobility innovation
  • Regulatory and political developments

Parallel sessions allowed leasing and consumer credit professionals to dive deep into sector-specific challenges and opportunities. 

Top Themes: Regulation, Economy, Risk & Asset Management

The convention highlighted several pressing themes:

  • Regulatory evolution: EU regulations around sustainability, digital finance, and data governance are reshaping operational models. Compliance is becoming a strategic differentiator.
  • Economic uncertainty: inflation, interest rate shifts, and geopolitical instability continue to impact asset values and leasing demand.
  • Risk management: with more complex portfolios and customer profiles, leasing firms are investing in smarter, data-driven risk models.
  • Asset management: the rise of circular economy principles and digital asset tracking is transforming how leasing companies manage and monetize their fleets.

AI in Leasing: High Potential, Low Adoption


Despite its transformative potential, AI adoption in the leasing industry remains behind other sectors. While industries like retail and logistics have embraced AI for personalization and automation, leasing companies are still in the early stages.

According to recent market data:

  • Only 54% of leasing agents currently use AI tools to screen tenants
  • 35% reduction in lease approval time is possible with AI
  • 45% of leasing firms report significant administrative cost savings due to AI
  • Yet, only 49% of leasing data is currently analyzed by AI for market forecasting 

AI Application in Leasing

Several companies have already begun to harness AI for real-world impact:

  • A report consolidation interviews with several U.S.-bases leasing firms show various examples of using AI to automate workflows such as document verification, credit checks, and lease generation. This has led to faster decisions, reduced errors, and improved compliance.
  • AI leasing agents are becoming popular, which improved lead engagement response rates by 64% and helped automate repetitive workflows across leading leasing businesses in North America.
  • A commercial real estate firm with over 3,000 active leases used AI-powered OCR and NLP to automate lease abstraction, reducing processing time from 4–8 hours to minutes and significantly improving compliance and reporting accuracy.

These examples show that AI is not just a buzzword—it’s a strategic tool that can transform leasing operations.

SAP Joule: Empowering Leasing with Intelligent Automation

SAP Joule is SAP’s AI copilot designed to revolutionize enterprise productivity. Joule is embedded across SAP’s cloud applications and connects data, workflows, and insights to deliver context-aware assistance wherever employees work.

Key Capabilities of SAP Joule:

  • Cross-application intelligence: Joule travels with users across SAP and third-party apps, offering proactive support without needing prompts.
  • Multistep workflow automation: Joule Agents collaborate to automate complex leasing tasks—from document processing to financial reconciliation.
  • Data-driven decision-making: Joule surfaces insights from internal and external data sources, enabling faster and more accurate decisions.
  • Customizable AI agents: Through Joule Studio, leasing companies can build tailored agents to meet specific operational needs.

For leasing firms, Joule can streamline:

  • Lease contract generation and validation
  • Supplier and asset management
  • Risk analysis and forecasting
  • Customer onboarding and support

By integrating SAP Joule, leasing companies can unlock new efficiencies and build scalable, AI-powered business models.

Outlook: AI as a strategic Imperative

The message from Leaseurope 2025 is clear: AI adoption especially in Europe is behind, although it is no longer optional—it’s essential. Companies that delay adoption risk falling behind in efficiency, innovation, and customer satisfaction.

With 82% of leasing firms planning to invest more in AI, the industry is poised for transformation. Early adopters will gain a competitive edge, while laggards may struggle to keep up.

BearingPoint and SAP Joule are ready to support your journey. Let’s shape the future of leasing together.

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