Afterwards, 70 per cent of the companies immediately continued working on the AI solution that had been developed. The results suggest that this approach helps helps deploy practical AI applications in SMEs more quickly in the workplace. AI in Your Business is therefore expanding and launching new programmes in West-Brabant and Utrecht.

Participating companies came from a range of sectors, including retail, construction, logistics and hospitality. These included Kesbeke, Enterprise and 123inkt. More than 100 Business Information Technology Management students from UvA Economics and Business worked in teams alongside students from the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences to address real-world business challenges.

Seventy per cent of the companies continued working on the AI solution developed during the programme. At 20 per cent of the participating companies, the AI solution was fully live and operational immediately after completion. A further 50 per cent were in the transition from prototype to final implementation.

From customer service to dashboards

AI in Your Business helps SMEs apply digital and AI solutions to concrete issues within their own organisations. Student teams, supervised by lecturers and AI experts, work on prototypes. In this way, the programme connects the digital transformation in SMEs with challenge-based education and research into AI implementation on the work floor.

‘For many small business owners, there is simply a lack of a network, knowledge and people to get started with AI solutions themselves,’ says Joost Reimert, project manager of AI in Your Business at Preneurz. ‘By having students, lecturers and AI experts work on their practical challenges, AI knowledge becomes applicable more quickly.’

A research lab for AI adoption in SMEs

The pilot is not only delivering solutions for individual companies. Researchers are also monitoring the innovation trajectories to gain a better understanding of what helps or hinders SMEs in applying AI. This generates insight into the practical conditions for AI adoption: what knowledge is needed, how employees respond and how AI changes existing work processes.

The researchers are examining three questions: how AI changes work processes and productivity, how SME organisations incorporate AI into their day-to-day practice, and which skills and attitudes employees need in order to work with it. Bart A. Lameijer, Associate Professor of Business Analytics at UvA Economics and Business, developed a measurement method together with PhD candidate John-Luca de Vries to help answer these questions.

‘By following these challenges as scientists, we gain a clearer view of how SMEs are dealing with the AI transformation,’ says Inez Zwetsloot, Associate Professor at UvA Economics and Business. ‘This produces practical lessons about what works, where companies encounter obstacles and how SMEs, as the engine of the Dutch economy, can apply AI responsibly and effectively.’

Expansion to West-Brabant and Utrecht

Following the first programme in the Amsterdam and North Holland region, AI in Your Business is expanding to West-Brabant and Utrecht. The broader ambition is to build a knowledge community around AI in Your Business in which SMEs, educational institutions, researchers, AI experts and regional partners share practical knowledge. In time, this should develop into a nationwide innovation and learning network for AI in SMEs.

About AI in Your Business

AI in Your Business is a programme for SMEs that want to develop practical, human-centred AI applications for concrete business challenges. The programme is an initiative of Preneurz, in collaboration with UvA Economics and Business, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences and partners including Rabobank, the City of Amsterdam, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Goldschmeding Foundation, Amsterdam Economic Board and the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area.

Would you like to know more about AI in Your Business and the next edition? Visit the website or fill in the form to register directly. 

Visit our AI4business website to learn more about AI challenges at UvA Economics and Business.