Companies in Spain are prioritizing the adoption of AI in search of greater efficiency, to the point that 43% of Spanish companies are accelerating their adoption of AI. This is according to data from the new study on the local AI labor market published by Snowflake, the AI Data Cloud company.
The study, in which 200 management-level professionals from large companies in Spain were surveyed, highlighted that the adoption of AI is also complemented by other strategic drivers, such as competitive advantage (25%), product and service innovation (22%) and cost reduction (10%).
Data management as a fundamental priority
The report shows that Spanish companies are aware that, to boost productivity and accelerate the adoption of AI, they must first build a solid database. In fact, those interviewed showed almost unanimous consensus, with 99% agreeing that data management is a key priority for their AI initiatives and adoption.
“While AI is transforming the way we work and allows us to extract valuable information from across the organization, its usefulness depends on the quality of the data it uses,” says José María Alonso, regional director for the Mediterranean area and country manager for Spain and Portugal at Snowflake. «The main conclusion of our research is that companies in Spain understand that the true potential of AI and their correct adoption of AI can only be unlocked by ensuring that the data that feeds it is accessible, of high quality and is perfectly integrated into each workflow. The fact that almost all respondents highlight data management as a priority underlines this reality and the maturity of the Spanish market.”
Priorities in data management for AI
The study reveals that Spanish companies consider integrating AI capabilities directly into data flows (39%) and optimizing the performance and scalability of data operations (34%) as some of their top priorities to make their processes more efficient and reinforce AI adoption. Other notable responses include reducing data infrastructure costs for AI (31%), improving data quality and governance (30%), and automating data preparation and processing (27%).
The most in-demand profiles in the age of AI
This data-centric AI strategy is redefining talent demand and accelerating AI adoption. According to respondents, the most critical technical skill to help companies advance their AI adoption is data engineering (52%), followed by workflow integration and automation (43%), confirming the need for experts who can build and manage the data infrastructures that power AI.
However, technical skill alone is not enough. Snowflake’s study also reveals the growing value of non-technical skills in helping organizations close the gap between technology and business and solidify AI adoption. Experience in a specific sector (40%) is the most valued competence, followed by the ability to think strategically about the product (32%).
“Organizations are actively looking for hybrid professionals who not only understand algorithms, but also have the business vision to apply AI in a way that solves real problems and generates measurable value,” says José María. “The professional of the future is a person who is capable of understanding the technological world and the income statement.”
Robust data governance
These professionals must have easy, connected and reliable data platforms that can centralize data from diverse sources under a single, unified environment with an integrated AI layer, facilitating the adoption of AI throughout the organization. However, it must also be complemented by robust data governance, including implementing role-based access policies to ensure that each user can only access information that is relevant to their specific jobs.
Almost all respondents highlight data management as a priority as well as the maturity of the Spanish market
«The historical barriers between technical and business teams did not arise from a lack of will to collaborate; but due to the absence of a shared language and tools. Today, thanks to AI, natural language has become that universal interface for data. This is empowering business leaders to actively participate in analysis and, at the same time, freeing analysts and engineers to evolve from executors to strategic partners within their respective companies,” concludes José María.
The study research was carried out by Censuswide with 200 respondents in Spain: Corporate Data Directors, AI Directors and IT Directors in companies with more than 250 employees (over 25 years old) between June and July 2025. Censuswide complies with and employs members of the Market Research Society, which is based on the principles of ESOMAR, and they are members of the British Polling Council.
