Support SMEs on their AI journey

“Our AI Change Agents will work with SMEs that are curious about AI and want to explore how AI could be used to improve their business in a sustainable way,” says Helena Theander, Head of Partner Management at AI Sweden and managing the AI Change Agent West program.

Thanks to funding from the REACT EU  program, together with Västra Götalandsregionen and Region Halland, AI Sweden can work with SMEs in the western parts of Sweden. 

“It is important for AI Sweden to meet the great need identified by our partnering regions, and together with them support the vast number of small companies that have yet to start using AI. Coaching those companies will be vital to keep effective, productive, and competitive subcontractors in the Swedish market and ecosystem. This will be beneficial for and strengthen our partner organizations,“ says Helena Theander.

For AI Sweden’s partners, the SME program is an opportunity to engage with small and medium sized businesses in the western parts of Sweden. 

“We expect that we can act as matchmakers between the SMEs we work with and AI Sweden’s partners. The startups and consultancies in our partner network will have an interesting proposition to address the needs expressed by the SMEs. Moreover our corporate partners might have suppliers that could benefit from our offer,” says Astrid Sjögren, Change Agent at AI Sweden.

At the moment, Astrid and her colleagues are meeting with SMEs, discussing their pain points, giving introductory presentations about AI, assessing the company’s current AI maturity, and many other things. Eventually, well-defined use cases will materialize. Either for a specific SME, or for a group of companies with similar needs. AI Sweden’s partners could make a valuable contribution in leading technical workshops, technical solutions, or even participating in proof of value pilots. In turn, this would give AI Sweden’s partners an opportunity to find new collaborations or customers, pilot new products, and get insights from other stakeholders.

If this is an area where your organization would like to participate, reach out to any of our five AI Change Agents West:

• Astrid Sjögren, Halmstad
• Marcus Frantzén, Skövde
• Eric Dutt, Göteborg
• Anders Thoresson, Trollhättan
• Vacant, Borås: Get in touch with Helena Theander if you are interested or know someone who might be!

Facts
The project is led by AI Sweden in cooperation with Skövde Science Park, Innovatum Science Park, IUC Sjuhärad, HighFive Halland and Lindholmen Science Park. 

The project is financed by the European Regional Development Fund, Västra Götalandsregionen and Region Halland.