The Telekom, through its new training initiative, “Telekom Grow Your Business – AI Edition”, is offering practical knowledge and useful guidance free of charge to help businesses use artificial intelligence in their day-to-day operations. The initiative is another way Telekom supports Greek businesses, strengthening the digital skills SMEs need to boost productivity, competitiveness and innovation.
The initiative responds to businesses’ need to learn about AI and make effective use of it, as highlighted by the study “Digital Readiness of SMEs in Greece in 2026”, conducted by the ELTRUN e-Business Research Centre at the Athens University of Economics and Business, in collaboration with Telekom.
Greek SMEs are becoming more digitally mature, but skills and knowledge gaps remain
According to the study “Digital Readiness of SMEs in Greece in 2026”, conducted following similar studies in 2024, 2022 and 2020, the Digital Readiness Index for SMEs rose by 9%, with 40% of businesses in the index’s two highest categories, “Advanced” or “Ideal”. Among the benefits of using digital technologies, productivity gains were rated as the most significant, at 73%. Increased sales and lower costs were also cited as important benefits, at 62% and 54%, respectively. The findings show that digital readiness varies according to the size and sector of businesses.
At the same time, the findings show that lack of training is the biggest obstacle preventing SMEs from adopting new technologies (47%, up from 27% in 2024). This is followed by a lack of information about the technologies and their benefits (44%, up from 34%) and limited financial resources (42%, down from 44%). Just 16% of businesses say they have the necessary digital skills to a great extent, while 76% are interested in taking part in training programmes.
“Digital readiness among SMEs is improving, but the pace is slowing, which means a fresh impetus is needed to accelerate progress. Although the overwhelming majority of SMEs use digital marketing, companies are struggling to create integrated digital customer experiences, from purchase through to customer service. Finally, management systems (ERP/CRM) need to be integrated, and high-quality data made available, to improve management, control and decision-making at SMEs,” said George Doukidis, professor at the School of Business of the University of Nicosia UNIC-Athens and founder of ELTRUN at the Athens University of Economics and Business.
SMEs in the age of AI
Greek SMEs are adopting artificial intelligence at a significantly faster pace. In particular, the use of AI tools more than tripled in two years, reaching 45% in 2026, up from 13% in 2024. 42% of SMEs use generative AI tools, with ChatGPT dominating (81%), while six in ten users still use the free version.
However, familiarity remains low: 68% of those using AI say they are not at all or only slightly familiar with the technology. Use is focused mainly on creating content and written material (44%), while applications such as process automation, data analysis, decision support and customer service are still at an early stage.
“The increase in the use of artificial intelligence is impressive, and at Telekom we want to be the partner of choice as businesses transform and enter the AI era. With the Telekom Grow Your Business - AI Edition initiative, we are once again demonstrating that supporting SMEs is a priority for us. We are bringing the capabilities of technology closer to Greek businesses,” said Thanos Falangas, the OTE Group’s director of B2B Marketing, CRM & Channel Management.
Telekom Grow Your Business–AI Edition: Free online courses
Telekom Grow Your Business is a long-standing OTE Group initiative to strengthen the digital skills and competitiveness of SMEs in Greece. In response to businesses’ need for education and training, Telekom is launching the new Grow Your Business–AI Edition initiative.
The new programme offers free online training and is open to all SMEs, self-employed professionals and employees, whether or not they are Telekom customers.
It comprises 9 training modules and around 23 hours of on-demand content, featuring academics and AI specialists and combining academic knowledge with practical business applications. Each course consists of standalone videos, which participants can watch at their own pace and whenever they choose.
The courses cover a wide range of applications of artificial intelligence across all business functions: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence / AI Tools & Prompting / AI in Digital Marketing / Brand Identity & Content with AI / Marketing & Sales with AI / AI Agents / Organisation, Productivity & Management / Strategy & Analysis with AI / Ethics & Responsible Use of AI.