Data study ·
Bank of Spain warns of AI adoption gap between large companies and SMEs
Original title, in Spanish: “El Banco de España alerta de la brecha de IA entre grandes empresas y pymes”
- Publication
- Economía 3 (Spain)
- Author
- Unsigned
- Published on
- 30 October 2026 · read in the page structured data · updated on 30 October 2026
Summary
According to an analysis by the Banco de España, around 70% of large Spanish companies already use AI, compared with only 30 to 35% of SMEs, a gap that has been stable since 2024. SME usage has almost doubled in two years, reaching nearly 35% for generative AI, but large companies are also progressing, so the gap remains. Nationally, nearly 20% of companies with ten or more employees use AI, a level close to the euro area average. The impact on employment remains limited: 89% of adopting companies see no significant effect. Over three years, 24% of large companies expect employment to fall, against 18% expecting it to rise, while SMEs remain divided. Large companies place greater emphasis on productivity (61% versus 27%), training (79% versus 35%) and hiring specialists (62% versus 17%).
Summary based on the full text of the article.
Read the article on Economía 3 →Figures cited
-
70 %
share of large Spanish companies using AI
Spain, large companies
« alrededor del 70% de las grandes ya la utilizan »
Source: Banco de España
-
32.5 %
share of Spanish SMEs using AI
Spain, SMEs (range 30-35%)
« una horquilla cercana al 30%-35% de las pymes »
Source: Banco de España
-
35 %
share of Spanish SMEs using generative AI
Spain, SMEs
« Su uso de la IA casi se ha duplicado en dos años, hasta rozar el 35% en el caso de la IA generativa. »
Source: Banco de España
-
20 %
share of Spanish companies with 10 or more employees using AI
Spain, companies with 10 or more employees
« cerca del 20% de las empresas de diez o más empleados usan ya IA »
Source: Banco de España
-
89 %
share of AI-adopting companies seeing no significant effect on employment
Spain, companies that have adopted AI
« cerca del 89% de las empresas que han adoptado la IA no aprecian efectos significativos en su plantilla »
Source: Banco de España
-
24 %
share of large companies expecting employment to fall over 3 years
Spain, large companies, 3-year horizon
« el 24% prevé una caída del empleo y el 18% un aumento »
Source: Banco de España
-
18 %
share of large companies expecting employment to rise over 3 years
Spain, large companies, 3-year horizon
« el 24% prevé una caída del empleo y el 18% un aumento »
Source: Banco de España
-
44 %
share of large companies expecting fewer jobs in repetitive tasks
Spain, large companies
« el 44% de las grandes anticipa menos empleos en tareas repetitivas o rutinarias »
Source: Banco de España
-
61 %
share of large companies expecting productivity gains from AI
Spain, large companies
« El 61% de las grandes empresas confía en ganar productividad con la IA, frente al 27% de las pymes. »
Source: Banco de España
-
27 %
share of SMEs expecting productivity gains from AI
Spain, SMEs
« El 61% de las grandes empresas confía en ganar productividad con la IA, frente al 27% de las pymes. »
Source: Banco de España
-
79 %
share of large companies planning to train their staff in AI
Spain, large companies
« el 79% de las grandes prevé formar a su plantilla y el 62% contratar personal especializado, porcentajes que en las pymes bajan al 35% y al 17%. »
Source: Banco de España
-
62 %
share of large companies planning to hire AI specialists
Spain, large companies
« el 79% de las grandes prevé formar a su plantilla y el 62% contratar personal especializado, porcentajes que en las pymes bajan al 35% y al 17%. »
Source: Banco de España
-
35 %
share of SMEs planning to train their staff in AI
Spain, SMEs
« el 79% de las grandes prevé formar a su plantilla y el 62% contratar personal especializado, porcentajes que en las pymes bajan al 35% y al 17%. »
Source: Banco de España
-
17 %
share of SMEs planning to hire AI specialists
Spain, SMEs
« el 79% de las grandes prevé formar a su plantilla y el 62% contratar personal especializado, porcentajes que en las pymes bajan al 35% y al 17%. »
Source: Banco de España
Classification
- Country
- Spain
- Company size
- SMEs, Large companies
- Industries
- All industries, or industry not specified
- Companies
- Banco de España (study author)
- Keywords
- pymes, large companies, digital divide, productivity, employment, training
Entry written by Marsanne Studio from the cited article, with the help of an AI model (claude-sonnet-5). The rights to the article and its illustrations belong to Economía 3. Entry translated from French by Claude Sonnet 5.5.