IA nas PME: How Approved Companies Can Put Their Project to Good Use

Applications for IA nas PME, the line of Portugal's Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) for artificial intelligence in small and medium-sized companies, are closed. For the companies that were approved, the question now is execution. PRR open data dated 23 October 2026 shows €320.9 million approved for 2,856 companies and not yet spent.

This article is for those companies. It covers where things stand, what counts as an eligible expense on the consultancy and training side, the steps to use the project well, and the mistakes worth avoiding. It is not a guide to applying: that window has closed.

Where things stand

Three facts matter for an approved company. Applications are closed, so the line takes no new companies. Each project has 24 months, counted from the start of the investment. And consultancy and training that are essential to putting the AI solutions in place are eligible expenses.

The second fact is the one to check first. The 24 months run from the start of your investment, so the end date depends on when your project actually began.

Who this is for

This article applies to your company if every point below is true:

• Your project was approved under IA nas PME.
• The 24 months, counted from the start of the investment, are still running.
• The AI solutions in the project are not yet fully in place, or not yet used day to day.
• You have the approval documents and the approved budget at hand.

What counts, and what to check

The notice (aviso) lists consultancy and training among the eligible expenses when they are essential to putting the AI solutions in place. The link to the solution is what matters. Training your team on the system the project introduces fits that wording. A generic course with no tie to the project fits it less clearly.

Read your own approval alongside the notice, and check each expense against both before you commit to it.

Steps to use the project well

1. Find your end date. Take the date the investment started and count 24 months forward.
2. Map the work. List the tasks the AI should help with, who does them today and how often.
3. Check the fit. Make sure what you plan matches the approved project and the eligible expenses in the notice.
4. Plan consultancy and training into the rollout. Make them part of putting the solution in place, not an extra at the end.
5. Put the solution in place with the people who will use it. Start with one process, test it on real work and adjust.
6. Check use before the end. Make sure the team uses the system day to day while the project is still running, so there is time to adjust.

Mistakes to avoid

• Counting from the wrong date. The 24 months run from the start of the investment.
• Leaving it to the last months. Putting AI into daily work takes testing and adjustment, and both need time inside the project window.
• Buying tools nobody uses. A licence on its own changes nothing. What counts is whether the team works with it.
• Treating training as an afterthought. Training that is essential to putting the solution in place is an eligible expense, and in our projects it is what decides whether people keep using the system.
• Assuming anything labelled AI is eligible. Check each expense against your approval and the notice.

How we help

We work with approved companies on the part of the project that turns into daily use: finding where AI saves time, putting the solution in place, and the consultancy and training that go with it.

Your approval and the notice decide what is eligible, so we never promise that a given expense will be accepted. We plan the work with you so that it fits them.

If your company is already approved, book the free workshop and we will look at your project together. The key figures are also on our funding page.