Portugal’s SMEs need an AI transition plan, not a slogan
By Author & Researcher A.S. Alhebsi
News Economy Europe - The IMF’s latest comments from Bangkok highlight a paradox that business leaders can no longer ignore. Artificial intelligence investment is supporting global growth, yet it is also expected to disrupt employment patterns significantly. For Portugal, the issue is not only macroeconomic. It is operational and deeply relevant to small and medium-sized enterprises. Portugal’s business landscape is rich in SMEs that work with tight margins, limited hiring flexibility and strong dependence on the adaptability of staff. That makes the country especially vulnerable to an AI conversation driven by hype. Large firms may have the capital to experiment. Smaller businesses need a transition plan they can actually execute.
The UAE’s recent emphasis on digital skills and secure digital public infrastructure is relevant here because it shifts attention from technology acquisition to readiness. That is exactly where Portuguese businesses should focus. Buying or subscribing to new tools is only one part of the challenge. The harder question is whether teams understand how work will change, what skills will matter and how customer expectations will shift.
Many Portuguese SMEs will encounter AI not as a grand strategic leap but as a series of practical decisions: automating communications, improving forecasting, using analytics, reducing repetitive administrative work or upgrading customer support. Each move can improve efficiency. Yet each also changes how employees see their future inside the company. If managers do not address that human side, adoption may create anxiety, resistance or silent disengagement.
This is especially important in a service-based and relationship-driven business culture. Companies rely not only on systems, but on trust — trust between employer and employee, and between business and customer. AI tools that save time but weaken the human quality of service can damage the very value they are meant to enhance.
A sensible Portuguese response would include three commitments. First, treat AI adoption as a workforce issue as much as a software issue. Second, make training realistic, short-cycle and tied to specific business processes. Third, preserve entry-level learning opportunities, because many SMEs depend on developing people from within rather than recruiting fully formed specialists.
Public policy has a role as well. Business support programmes should encourage not just digitalisation, but responsible transition planning. That means incentives linked to skills, organisational readiness and basic cyber resilience, not simply tool uptake. Portugal’s economic future will benefit more from many well-prepared firms than from a smaller number of flashy AI adopters.
AI can certainly help Portuguese businesses become more competitive. But competitiveness built on fear is fragile. SMEs need something better: a practical transition that improves performance while keeping employees confident that the future still includes them.
News basis: IMF remarks in Bangkok that AI investment is supporting global growth while disrupting jobs, alongside recent UAE emphasis on digital skills and secure digital public infrastructure.
