Last week, a select group of senior print and imaging executives gathered in London for IDC’s Print and Imaging Leadership Dinner. During this invitation-only evening, a conversation unfolded between IDC analysts and the people shaping the industry, moderated by IDC’s Sandra Ng.  

What came out of that dinner? Some of the discussions reaffirmed what many already suspected. But some of the insights revealed will fundamentally change how forward-thinking vendors approach the next 18 months. Here’s a taste of what was discussed, and why you’ll want to be in the room for one of IDC’s executive dinners next time.  

The buying committee has expanded, and most vendors are still selling to the wrong people  

Two years ago, a print deal sat with IT and procurement. That’s no longer the world we’re operating in. IDC’s 2026 European Print Survey, covering 2,000 organisations across eight markets, revealed that the stakeholder landscape has shifted dramatically. The conversation that used to happen in one room now happens in four.  

The implications for how vendors structure their go-to-market approach are significant, and the dinner surfaced a very specific playbook that the those gaining the most ground are already executing. We’ll leave the details for the briefing room.  

Security just overtook cost reduction as the #1 investment driver in print. 

A striking 24% of European technology buyers now cite security and compliance as their primary reason for investing in print. That puts it ahead of both cost reduction and productivity.  

This is more than a repositioning opportunity, as it moves the conversation to a different level within the organization,  with a different buyer. Those in the room heard exactly which messaging reaches the CISO, which regulatory triggers are opening budgets right now, and where the hardware story needs to evolve to stay relevant.  

IDC predicts that 40% of worldwide new office MFP shipments will be classified as AI MFPs by 2027. The vendors with a credible roadmap published today will be the ones with a strategic seat in 24 months. Those without one are already behind.  

The buyer has already formed a view before your sales team picks up the phone  

This was the session’s sharpest insight, and the one most likely to keep vendor CMOs up at night.  

GenAI-sourced web traffic grew 1,200% between 2024 and 2025. Two in three searches today end without a single click. Buyers are shortlisting vendors, forming preferences, and making preliminary decisions inside AI assistants, before they’ve seen your website, opened your brochure, or taken a sales call.  

IDC’s Gala Spasova gave a demonstration that stopped the room. When major AI assistants were asked the questions a head of digital workplace would actually type, around 30 vendor names came back consistently. Not a single print OEM appeared. When the question became print-specific, all the familiar names showed up.  

The print category is owned. The workplace category, where your buyers are actually looking, is invisible.  

What it takes to change that, and how fast it compounds once you do, was laid out in detail at the dinner. The short version: it’s not pay-to-play, and the window to act is narrow.  

Three places the money is actually moving in 2026, and the 12–18 month window you can’t afford to miss  

IDC analysts Jacqui Hendriks and Gala Spasova mapped out three near-term growth areas where European buyer investment is already building, from value-add software and services through to Intelligent Document Processing and a sustainability play that changes both the buyer and the budget.  

The most time-sensitive of these? A three-way alliance opportunity, vendor, channel, certified refurbisher, that’s unserved by the larger SIs and telcos, but not for long. European refurbished device shipments grew 28% in 2025. Demand is running well ahead of vendor readiness. The potential of such a model was discussed at the dinner in some detail.  

The commercial model shift that separates the winners  

The evening closed with a discussion on what’s actually different about the vendors capturing European growth. It’s not just what they’re selling. It’s the contracts they’re willing to sign, the conversations they’re prepared to have, and the partnerships they’re building now.  

Roberto Alunni and Phil Sargeant laid out, with uncomfortable precision, the behaviours that distinguish vendors gaining ground from those defending yesterday’s revenue. Some of it is replicable quickly. Some of it takes 18 months of investment to build. All of it was on the table.  

Were you in the room?  

If you weren’t at IDC’s Print & Imaging Leadership Dinner, or if you’re wondering how to get on the guest list for the next executive dinner, now is the time to reach out. Events like this are where the defining conversations happen: the information and insight that doesn’t make it into LLMs and the strategic debates that shape how the market moves, alongside networking and the connections that open doors.  

Whether your focus is European print and imaging, AI-driven workplace transformation, digital sovereignty, channel partnerships, or any of the many other topics shaping the European technology landscape, IDC brings together the senior leaders and the research to drive the conversation forward.  

To find out more about IDC’s European print and imaging research programme, or to join the conversation at our next event, contact your IDC representative or simply fill in our contact form.  

IDC’s European print and imaging research covers 2,000 organisations across Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, the UK and the Nordics, across 15 verticals. The 2026 European Print Survey data underpinning this dinner is available to IDC clients and select briefing participants.  

Phil Sargeant - Senior Program Director, Imaging and Hardcopy Devices and Document Solutions, European Region

Phil Sargeant is IDC’s leading expert in the field of imaging, hardware devices and document solutions. As senior program director, he researches and reports on the key aspects of the multifunction, production and large format printer markets and is also…

Gala Spasova - Senior Research Manager, Europe Smart Office and EMEA Content & Knowledge Management Strategies

Gala Spasova is a senior research manager in IDC's Future of Workplace & Imaging team. Her research focus is on Hybrid working, Smart Office technology and Content & Knowledge Management Strategies in EMEA.  Spasova is also part of the European…

Jacqui Hendriks - Associate Research Director, European Print Vendor Transformation Strategies

Jacqui Hendriks, Associate Research Director, European Imaging, Printing and Document Solutions Jacqui Hendriks heads up IDC's European Print Vendor Transformation Strategies research program, in collaboration with various IDC research domains. Hendriks has more than 30 years of experience of working…

Roberto Alunni - Senior Research Director, EMEA Data & Analytics

Roberto Alunni is a Senior Research Director at IDC for imaging, print, and document solutions research across the EMEA region. He is responsible for strategic and operational implementation and leads an international analyst team. He is a specialist in imaging…

Sandra Ng - Senior Vice President, WW and APJ Research

Sandra Ng is Senior Vice President at IDC and the Global Domain Leader for Devices, Consumers, Imaging, and Japan. Based in Singapore, she advises technology buyers and vendors worldwide on technology investments, financial priorities, and go-to-market strategies. She leads a…