Artificial intelligence has ceased to be a technology reserved for innovation or technology departments and has progressively become a transversal tool in companies. The data reflects the speed of this transformation. According to the National Institute of Statistics (INE), 21.1% of Spanish companies with 10 or more employees used AI technologies in 2025. Among companies with fewer than 10 workers, the percentage already reached 13.4%.
At the international level, the report The State of AI in 2025prepared by McKinsey, points out that 88% of the organizations consulted already use artificial intelligence in at least one business function, ten percentage points more than the previous year. Generative AI, for its part, was present in 79% of organizations.
However, the real challenge for companies is no longer just to adopt artificial intelligence solutions, but to incorporate them into their strategy and decision-making processes. The figures show the distance that still exists between using these tools and being able to fully integrate them into the functioning of an organization. In fact, only 7% of companies claim to have managed to scale AI across their entire business.
The ability of leaders to integrate it
For EALDE Business School, this gap shows that the main challenge that companies currently face is fundamentally strategic. The question is no longer just what tools to use, but with what objectives to incorporate them, what processes to transform, where to invest and how to measure their impact on the business. «Artificial intelligence is redefining the way companies compete and run. The true competitive advantage will not be in technology alone, but in the ability of leaders to integrate it into the strategy, transform their organizations and generate business results,” explains Guillermo Mayayo, Iberia Manager and professor at the business school.
In recent years, much of the business conversation about artificial intelligence has focused on specific tools and their ability to automate tasks, generate content or increase productivity. However, the next stage of adoption requires moving these capabilities from the operational level to the management levels. This means using AI to analyze information, detect business opportunities, anticipate scenarios, optimize processes, know customers better and support decision making.
In this context, the role of managers is decisive. According to EALDE Business School, the implementation of these technologies cannot be left exclusively in the hands of technological departments. Many of the decisions that will determine their profitability correspond directly to the management of the companies: what processes should be transformed, how much to invest, what risks to take, what indicators to use or how to reorganize teams and responsibilities. Added to this is the obligation to guarantee artificial intelligence literacy of staff, included in the European AI Regulation from February 2025.
International data also reflect that there is still some way to go. “Although the use of AI has become widespread rapidly, a large part of organizations are still in experimentation phases or pilot projects and have not yet managed to translate this technology to an enterprise scale,” point out the experts from the business school.
Understand AI without having to be a programmer
This new scenario is also modifying the skills needed by professionals responsible for managing companies and teams. From EALDE Business School they point out that “a manager does not need to become a programmer or develop AI models, but he does need to understand the technology sufficiently to identify its possibilities, value investments, know its limitations and risks and make strategic decisions about its use.”
In this way, concepts such as AI governance, data quality, process automation, cybersecurity, privacy, regulation or return on investment are becoming part of the knowledge that management profiles need. Issues that until a few years ago were mainly linked to technological departments now acquire a strategic dimension for all companies.
This transformation may have a special impact on the Spanish business fabric, characterized by the high weight of small and medium-sized companies. For business school experts, “while large organizations usually have departments specialized in technology, data or innovation, in smaller companies many decisions related to digital transformation fall directly on their managers and management teams.”
Identify the potential of AI in companies
The possibilities of artificial intelligence are not limited to saving time or automating tasks either. Companies are beginning to apply it in areas such as marketing and sales, product and service development, operations, customer service, technology or knowledge management.
The next step is to determine how these capabilities can transform your own business strategy. From the creation of new products and services to the personalization of customer relationships, the optimization of supply chains or the identification of new sources of income, AI opens up opportunities that force organizations to review their business models and priorities.
The training addresses artificial intelligence from a perspective that goes beyond its exclusively technological aspects
For EALDE Business School, this is precisely where one of the main differences lies between using artificial intelligence and running a company with AI. «The first allows us to improve certain tasks. The second requires reviewing processes, priorities, investments and business models,” its experts point out.
Training in strategic artificial intelligence and business management
Given this evolution, the training of professionals who make business decisions is becoming a fundamental tool to reduce the distance between rapid technological adoption and its strategic application. In response to this need, EALDE Business School has launched its online Master in Strategic Artificial Intelligence and Business Management, aimed at professionals who need to understand how to incorporate these technologies into business strategy and lead transformation processes in their organizations. The program lasts 12 months and begins in March.
The training addresses artificial intelligence from a perspective that goes beyond its technological aspects, with content directly related to business management, such as strategy, business models, decision making, team management, productivity, governance and analysis of return on investments.
From the business school they consider that this capacity will be increasingly decisive for managerial profiles. In a scenario in which artificial intelligence tools will progressively be within the reach of any company, competitive advantage will not depend solely on having this technology, but on knowing how to integrate it into daily activity, direct its use towards specific objectives and convert it into results for the business.
