The technological revolution advances at a rate that many small and medium enterprises fail to follow. Not due to lack of tools, but of talent formed to use them.
A new bottleneck for SMEs: knowledge
Digital transformation is no longer an option for companies, but a condition to survive. But in an ecosystem in which 99.81% of Spanish business fabric is composed of SMEs, the question is not so much if you have to adapt, but how to do it on time. In that process, continuous formation is revealed as the differential factor.
While artificial intelligence, automation and digital tools multiply their possibilities in corporate environments, most small businesses still do not integrate the training of their equipment into their business strategy. A lack that, beyond technological delay, leaves them exposed to a loss of competitiveness in an increasingly demanding market.
According to data from the National Observatory of Technology and Society (ONTSI), only 9.6% of Spanish companies with more than 10 employees currently use AI, and the figure descends to 5.8% in the case of microenterprises. An alarming gap that could be expanded if it is not reacts with a clear and determined investment in the development of digital skills.
“Size is not the problem, it is the vision of leaders”
“SMEs that understand training as an investment, and not as an expense, are building the bases for solid and sustainable growth,” says Juan Luis Moreno, Partner & Managing director of The Valley. “The difference between moving forward or falling is not in the size of the company, but in the vision of its leaders.”
Moreno warns that technology evolves faster than many organizations can assimilate, and that only those that are committed to the Reskilling and the Upskilling of their teams will be able to incorporate innovation into their DNA and respond with agility to market challenges.
AI, productivity and innovation: a winning equation
The advantages of betting on continuous training in artificial intelligence and digital competences are clear:
- More productivity, less errors: Well prepared teams work more efficiently, adopt agile methodologies and reduce unproductive times.
- Innovation as a habit, not as exception: He Lifelong Learning It encourages the generation of disruptive ideas that differentiate products and services from the base.
- Talent that stays (and arrives): Companies investing in their professionals reinforce their employer brand and attract profiles with ambition and vision.
- Better decisions, in less time: The understanding of the digital environment facilitates strategic and safe decision making.
In SMEs: the challenge is no longer technological, but human
The paradox is evident: the tools are available, but not the knowledge to apply them. Therefore, the most urgent challenge for small and medium enterprises does not only go through new technologies, but for ensuring that their teams are prepared to take advantage of them.
Adapted training initiatives, collaboration programs with specialized centers or alliances with business schools focused on AI and digital transformation are necessary steps to close that gap.
What is at stake is not only efficiency, but survival. SMEs who know how to convert knowledge into strategy will have a decisive advantage in the new digital economy. Those who do not do it, could be out of the game long before expected.
