Announced public programme · North, Centre and Alentejo

AI training for SMEs: get your team ready for Portugal’s national programme

The Portuguese Government has announced an initiative to train around 100,000 SME employees in AI over three years. We help your company prepare its team and turn training into practical, everyday use.

No commitment. We follow the public information on the programme and, if you ask us to, we will get in touch once there is confirmed news.

What we know so far

There are two separate public sources. We show each one on its own, because it has not been officially confirmed that the call planned under Portugal 2030 is the instrument that runs or funds the initiative announced by the Government.

Announced by the Government

Source: Government announcement, June 2026

A goal of training around 100,000 SME employees in AI
A three-year horizon
Two training levels: one of roughly 3 to 4 days and a more advanced one of roughly 12 to 15 days, working on the companies’ own cases
Pilot projects in the Leiria region, with the stated intention of extending them to the rest of the country
An announced budget of around €70 million

Planned under Portugal 2030

Source: Portugal 2030 Annual Calls Plan and call summary

Planned call "Formação em Inteligência Artificial para as empresas (Convite IAPMEI)", reference 8663 on the summary sheet
COMPETE 2030 programme, funded by the ESF+
Planned allocation of €80 million
Regions: North, Centre and Alentejo
Window in the plan: 30 October to 30 December 2026
An invitation-only call, with IAPMEI named as the beneficiary
Type: joint business training, including training-in-action
Stated aim: strengthen the AI skills of employees, managers and business owners, and promote the adoption of AI solutions in companies

Not yet defined

Pending the formal rules

How companies will take part
Whether SMEs will need to join through an implementing body
The actual cost to each company
Eligibility rules
Which organisations will deliver the training
How registration will work
Final delivery conditions

The figure of around €70 million was given in the Government announcement. The €80 million figure is the planned allocation for the call in the Portugal 2030 plan. They come from different sources.

The formal rules depend on official documents being published and updated. We will update this page when there is confirmed information.

Why prepare your team now

Whatever model is eventually published, there is work your company can do ahead of time. These are Fiorde’s suggestions, not requirements of the public programme.

Spot the opportunities

Know which tasks and processes in your team could benefit from AI before any training starts.
Bring real cases

Arrive at training with concrete problems from your own business, ready to analyse and work on.
Set the rules

Put internal rules in place early for safe AI use: data, confidentiality and information security.

How Fiorde helps SMEs

Fiorde’s own services, available today and independent of the public programme.

AI readiness assessment

A free 30-minute conversation to identify the tasks, risks and priorities for using AI in your company.

Hands-on AI training

Fiorde’s own learning paths, designed around the needs described in the publicly announced training levels. They can run privately, independently of the public programme. Once the rules exist, we can look at whether public support could apply.

From training to implementation

Once your team is ready, we help turn the opportunities you found into pilots, agents and automations, starting with a controlled rollout before any larger investment.

Book a free assessment

Fiorde’s training paths

This is Fiorde’s own offer. These are not the official courses or levels of the public programme.

Essentials

For the whole team: using generative AI safely in everyday work.

What generative AI does well, and what it doesn’t
Safe use, confidentiality and sensitive data
Writing good prompts
AI for email, documents and spreadsheets
AI in customer service
An internal AI usage policy

Advanced

For the people leading adoption: moving from single tasks to whole processes.

Process review and spotting opportunities
Internal knowledge bases and RAG (AI search over your company’s documents)
Automations with tools such as n8n or Make
Measuring quality and cost
Adoption plan and metrics

Format

On site, at your company
Live online sessions
Small groups
Exercises built on your team’s real tasks

Working on AI training for SMEs? We’d like to collaborate.

Fiorde offers AI trainers and content backed by hands-on production experience, modules that adapt to each sector, and the ability to work through companies’ real cases.

We are keen to work with:

Business associations
Training providers
Higher education institutions
Other organisations running AI training initiatives for SMEs

Propose a partnership

Frequently asked questions

Is Fiorde part of the IAPMEI programme?

No. Fiorde is a private company and does not represent IAPMEI or Portugal 2030. We follow the public information on the initiative and are open to working with organisations involved in AI training for SMEs.

Will the training be free for companies?

That can’t be confirmed yet. The cost and the conditions for taking part depend on the rules and delivery model that are eventually published.

Is my company eligible?

The published plan lists the North, Centre and Alentejo regions for this call. The actual conditions, including who can take part and through which organisation or mechanism, depend on the formal rules still to be published.

Can we start before the programme opens?

Yes. Fiorde offers its assessment and private training today. We can also look at whether public support could apply once the rules exist.

What does the team need to know beforehand?

Fiorde’s training needs no programming knowledge. We adapt it to the team’s level of experience and to the actual tasks of each role.

What about data protection?

Fiorde’s training covers safe AI use, confidentiality, data protection and good practice when using AI tools.