On October 2019, sitting amidst the audience at the World AI Summit conference held in Amsterdam, I watched with excitement as the Secretary of State (Ministry of Economic Affairs), Mrs Mona Keijzer, took to the stage to announce the recent launch of the AI Coalition in the Netherlands, and consequently the Strategic AI Action Plan that resulted from the work of its 65 parties. Mrs Keijzer seemed quite optimistic in their ability to compete at the global level. This optimism is indeed justified by key ingredients that make it ready for embracing such a leap forward. For instance, the Netherlands is one of the most data-connected countries in the world, according to DHL research, and on top of this, the country has achieved a strong ecosystem of public-private partnerships (PPP), in addition to a leading European position in high quality research. A McKinsey Report on AI in Europe ranked the Netherlands above average when it comes to AI readiness, with top 25% scores for Automation, Digital Readiness and Innovation.