The Adigital SME Acceleration Office, in collaboration with the City Council of Soto del Real, recently organized a day-long event for local small businesses to explain in practical and realistic terms how to incorporate artificial intelligence tools into the day-to-day management of a business.
During the session, held at the Soto del Real Cultural Center, attendees received a hands-on introduction to AI capabilities, as well as an overview of tools useful for small retailers and applied use cases such as creating a customer-service chatbot, enhancing product photography, or automating repetitive tasks aimed at boosting efficiency, improving operations, and increasing productivity.
“The digital economy is transforming business models, and it is essential for small retailers to harness the opportunities offered by technologies like artificial intelligence. When used properly, these tools help improve competitiveness without sacrificing the personal touch and the individualized service that characterize local commerce,” noted Pablo Velasco, Director of Programs at Adigital.
From the Soto del Real City Council, Noelia Barrado, the town’s mayor, has emphasized these sessions as a way to strengthen digital skills among local merchants and SMEs. “From the City Council we continue working to bring useful tools to our shops and self-employed professionals. Artificial intelligence is already part of the present, and events like this help our businesses see, in practical terms, how it can contribute to daily operations and competitiveness,” said Noelia Barrado, mayor of Soto del Real.
Regional Boost
This event sits within the objective of the Adigital-managed Office Acelera pyme, rolled out across municipalities in the Community of Madrid, to bring digitization closer to SMEs and self-employed workers and to support them in their business transformation journey.
The Acelera pyme offices launched nationwide in Spain by Red.es, a public entity under the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Administration through the State Secretariat for Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence, have in their 2025 call for proposals a grant amounting to 29 million euros to spur the digitization of SMEs, the self-employed, and entrepreneurs. The maximum grant covers up to 80% of the eligible budget and is funded by the European Union, the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for the 2021–27 period, and the Government of Spain.
