In my native Dutch, we have a saying: "Vijgen na Pasen"—literally, "figs after Easter." It refers to something that arrives far too late to be of any use. Today, on this Easter Monday 2026, as I look out over the Mediterranean from the Riviera, I find myself deeply concerned that Monaco’s AI strategy might become our own "vijgen na Pasen."
The Massive Opportunity at Our Doorstep
We have a generational opportunity here. H.S.H. Prince Albert II already punches far above his weight on global matters like Ocean Conservation and Ecology. He has shown the world that a small state can be a moral and legislative giant.
AI is, without a doubt, the biggest challenge and opportunity of our lifetime. The Prince has the unique authority to be a global leader here too—guiding the morality and legislation of an industry that currently has no compass. I am paying close attention to what the Palace says on this subject, because I hope the Prince has the right advisors in his ear. I hope we aren't just "buying" AI; I hope we are building the infrastructure of a truly Sovereign future.
The Reality of "Inference Sovereignty" I say this not as a critic, but as an implementer. Currently, I am building Nemonik for maritime compliance and Beancounter for private financial intelligence.
For these systems to be truly "Monegasque," I need a Local Sovereign Model.
When I am offline or at sea, I use compact, efficient models (on a souped-up Mac mini M4 Pro, I can comfortably run 30 to 40B models). But for the heavy lifting—the deep financial analysis and complex legal reasoning—I need a High-Performance Sovereign Model that is too heavy for a local appliance due to hardware and electricity costs.
This is where the Monaco Cloud must step in. We need a state-level "Intelligence Factory" where these heavy models can run securely, so that our private data never has to cross a foreign border.
A Safe Harbor for Intelligence If we wait until our data has already leaked to foreign clouds, or until the global standards have been set by others, any late-stage effort will be "vijgen na Pasen." The stable door will be closed, but the horse will have long since bolted.
Monaco can lead the world in Privacy-First Intelligence. We can be the global gold standard for how a modern state balances hyper-efficiency with absolute sovereignty. The architecture is ready. The opportunity is now. I, for one, will be watching the horizon very closely this year.
Ultimately, this architecture is not just a technological luxury; it is the definitive answer to the FATF pressures we face—automated, air-gapped compliance is the only way to get Monaco off the Grey List once and for all.
posted on LinkedIn on Easter Monday.
Written by Kenneth Himschoot and published on April 6, 2026.