Training course · Generative AI · SMEs & Mid-Sized Businesses

Generative AI for SMEs

Vendor-neutral, hands-on day: how language models work, where they go wrong and how to roll out AI successfully in your team.

Duration
1 day (7 hrs)
Format
Online or on-site
Language
German or English
Participants
open dates or exclusive for your team
Certificate
Certificate of attendance

Overview

“Generative AI for SMEs” is designed for roles such as Owners and managing directors of SMEs, Sales, purchasing and administration staff and HR managers in small and mid-sized companies and shows step by step how to use Generative AI productively, safely and transparently in SMEs & Mid-Sized Businesses – from the fundamentals to advanced workflows.

Generative AI has reached most organisations, yet teams often lack a shared understanding of what language models can actually do and where their limits lie. In this vendor-neutral course you will learn how large language models generate text, why they hallucinate and how careful prompting, context and source checking lead to reliable results. Rather than relying on any provider's marketing claims, you will work with transparent criteria that help you compare tools and judge their fit for your own tasks.

The second focus is everyday implementation. You will identify concrete use cases in your area of work, weigh benefit, risk and effort, and draft a realistic roll-out plan for your team. This covers ground rules for handling confidential data, a practical prompt library and ways to build acceptance and make results measurable. Throughout the day you work with examples from your own field, so you leave with an actionable roadmap rather than a set of abstract ideas.

Small and medium-sized enterprises are the backbone of the economy – and are hit especially hard by skills shortages and growing administrative burdens. Generative AI offers mid-sized businesses big opportunities precisely because it can be used without an IT department or major investment. Owners and staff use AI assistants to write quotes and customer correspondence, review tenders and contracts, draft job adverts, capture the know-how of experienced employees and create marketing content. Simple automations and AI agents connect email, spreadsheets and industry software. The key is a pragmatic start with clear rules that delivers noticeable benefits quickly and brings the whole team along.

The course is delivered live – either online in a virtual classroom or on-site in our training rooms in Munich, Salzburg, Berlin, Augsburg, Hanover, Bremen, Stuttgart and Kaiserslautern. We can also run it exclusively for your team.

Who is this course for?

  • Owners and managing directors of SMEs
  • Sales, purchasing and administration staff
  • HR managers in small and mid-sized companies
  • Digitalisation and operations leads
  • Trades businesses and family-owned companies

Typical challenges we address

  • Skills shortages and heavy workloads in small teams
  • Growing administrative and documentation requirements
  • No dedicated IT or digital transformation department
  • Uncertainty about data protection, costs and the right way to start with AI

What you will be able to do

  • You can explain clearly how language models generate text and why hallucinations occur.
  • You can write prompts that consistently deliver useful, verifiable results.
  • You can compare AI tools against transparent criteria covering data protection, features and cost.
  • You can identify and prioritise concrete use cases for your area of work.
  • Apply AI pragmatically in sales, administration, HR and marketing in your company.
  • Define clear, privacy-compliant rules for AI use in your team.
  • Identify processes that can be improved with AI and automation without an in-house IT department.

Course outline

Module 1 How large language models work
  • Tokens, context windows and probabilities: what happens when a model generates text
  • Training knowledge versus web search versus your own documents (RAG)
  • Text, images, audio and code: what multimodal models can do today
  • Realistically assessing typical strengths and weaknesses in office work
Module 2 Spotting hallucinations and getting reliable output
  • Why models produce plausible-sounding errors and when the risk increases
  • Prompting techniques: role, context, examples, output format and step-by-step instructions
  • Requesting sources, cross-checking facts and introducing a four-eyes principle
  • Scoping tasks so that AI assists rather than decides
Module 3 Choosing tools without vendor bias
  • Overview of chat assistants, AI built into office suites and specialist tools
  • Criteria: data processing, hosting location, admin features, integrations and pricing model
  • Enterprise licences, API access and locally hosted open-source models compared
  • Building a simple scoring matrix for your own tool selection
Module 4 Identifying use cases in your field
  • Systematically capturing recurring writing, research and analysis tasks
  • Rating benefit, risk and implementation effort for each use case
  • Distinguishing quick wins from strategic initiatives
  • Creating a prioritised use-case backlog for your team
Module 5 Rolling out generative AI in your team
  • Usage rules: which data may go into which tool and who signs off results
  • Building and maintaining a shared prompt library and templates
  • AI champions, training formats and peer exchanges to embed new habits
  • Measuring success: documenting time saved, quality and user satisfaction
Module 6 Practice lab: SMEs & Mid-Sized Businesses
  • Quotes and customer correspondence
  • Reviewing tenders and contracts
  • Recruitment
  • Preserving know-how
  • Marketing without an agency
  • Automating workflows
Module 7 Data protection, quality & transfer to daily work
  • SMEs must also comply with the GDPR when using AI, for example through data processing agreements and clear rules on which customer and employee data may be entered. The EU AI Act requires businesses to ensure adequate AI literacy among staff, and trade secrets and customer data belong only in approved tools.
  • Ground rules for safe AI use in your team
  • Checking results: facts, sources, tests and the four-eyes principle
  • Personal action plan for the next 30 days
  • Open questions, outlook and resources for further learning

Practical scenarios from your field

Quotes and customer correspondence

AI drafts quote text, service descriptions, follow-up emails and replies to customer enquiries based on your templates and price lists – you review and send.

Reviewing tenders and contracts

Tender documents, suppliers' terms and framework agreements are summarised for requirements, deadlines, liability and special conditions so you can decide faster. Key exclusion criteria are highlighted clearly.

Recruitment

Job adverts, careers page copy, interview guides and onboarding plans are written for the target audience to stand out in the competition for skilled staff.

Preserving know-how

The experience of long-serving employees is captured in interviews and structured with AI into work instructions, FAQs and onboarding material before it is lost to retirement.

Marketing without an agency

Website copy, newsletters, social posts, case studies and trade fair materials are created with AI and adapted to the language of your customers. Your company gains visibility without a marketing department.

Automating workflows

Recurring processes such as sorting incoming invoices, routing enquiries or producing reports from spreadsheets are connected using no-code tools and AI agents. This noticeably relieves small teams and reduces errors.

Prerequisites

No technical background is required. It helps to bring along typical tasks from your day-to-day work that you would like to support with AI. Working in a small or medium-sized business; no technical background required.

Technical requirements

You will need a laptop with an up-to-date browser and internet access. A free account with a common AI assistant is sufficient; company licences are welcome.

Data protection & compliance

SMEs must also comply with the GDPR when using AI, for example through data processing agreements and clear rules on which customer and employee data may be entered. The EU AI Act requires businesses to ensure adequate AI literacy among staff, and trade secrets and customer data belong only in approved tools.

Suggested dates

All dates are suggestions – your preferred date is always possible.

  • Tue, 24 November 2026 Online Request
  • Thu, 3 December 2026 Hanover Request
  • Tue, 15 December 2026 Online Request
  • Thu, 7 January 2027 Munich Request
  • Thu, 14 January 2027 Online Request
  • Fri, 29 January 2027 Stuttgart Request

Frequently asked questions

Is the course tied to a specific AI tool?

No. The training is deliberately vendor-neutral. You work with widely used chat assistants and learn principles that apply to all major language models. That way you can transfer your skills to whichever tool your organisation has approved and evaluate new offerings yourself using clear criteria instead of relying on marketing statements.

How is confidential company data handled during the course?

For the exercises you use anonymised or fictitious examples from your area of work. At the same time you learn which categories of data may be entered into which tools, what to look for regarding data processing agreements and use of inputs for training, and how to set out these rules clearly for your team.

Will we leave with something concrete to implement?

Yes. You leave with a prioritised use-case backlog, a scoring matrix for tool selection, tested prompt templates and a draft set of team usage rules. These materials are designed so you can take them straight into internal discussions with management, IT and your data protection officer.

How should a small business get started with AI?

Start with two or three concrete, time-consuming tasks such as quotes, correspondence or job adverts. Choose a privacy-compliant tool, set simple rules and let the team practise together. In the course you develop exactly this kind of starter plan for your company.

Do we need our own IT department?

No. Common AI assistants and no-code automations can be used without programming skills. What matters is deliberate tool selection, data processing agreements and clear responsibilities. For integrations with industry software, occasional external support may help, but getting started is something you can do yourselves.

How much does “Generative AI for SMEs” cost?

The course costs a flat €949 plus VAT per participant – whether online or on-site. This includes 1 training day(s) with a live trainer, course materials, a lab environment and a certificate of attendance.

Can I suggest my own date?

Yes. Our suggested dates are just a guide. In the request form you can always describe your preferred date or period in free text – we check availability and confirm within one working day.

Is the course online or on-site?

Both are possible: live online in a virtual classroom or on-site in Munich, Salzburg, Berlin, Augsburg, Hanover, Bremen, Stuttgart or Kaiserslautern. We can also run the course exclusively for your team.

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