Artificial intelligence is no longer an emerging technology; it has become a strategic driver of productivity. The challenge now is to understand how to integrate it into organisational processes in ways that enhance human capabilities and create value.
This was one of the key conclusions of the Rafael Altamira Summer Course, “From Data to Action: How Artificial Intelligence Turns Information into Valuable Decisions”, organised by the University of Alicante. Over three days, the course brought together experts from academia, business and technology to explore how AI is changing the way we work with data and information, and how it can support better decision-making.
Rather than approaching artificial intelligence simply as a collection of tools, the course encouraged a broader reflection on a much deeper shift facing organisations today: the need to rethink how they interact with technology and digital information.
From using AI tools to developing an AI adoption strategy
One of the recurring messages throughout the course was that AI adoption can no longer be approached as simply adding a series of standalone applications. As Francisco Ricau, from ITI, explained, effective adoption is far more complex. It requires organisations to understand the different models available, establish clear principles for their use, integrate AI capabilities into existing processes, and put governance mechanisms in place to build trust and minimise risk.
The business experiences shared afterwards highlighted the scale of this challenge. Different approaches and practices showed that real competitive advantage increasingly lies in developing a strategy capable of turning AI’s potential into tangible results across business models and markets. The round table, “Business Experiences in AI Adoption”, was moderated by Pedro Salazar Díaz-Marta (CEO of Nunity) and featured Marga Herrero Aguilar (Golden Owl®), Arturo Lizón Nordström, PhD (CEO of Atlántica Agrícola), Rocío Garbuglia (Healthmate.tech) and José Norberto Mazón (CDO of InferIA). Drawing on a wide range of perspectives, they shared how their organisations are implementing AI and discussed the key challenges they are facing along the way.
A new way of engaging with technology and information
The course also provided a broad overview of today’s AI ecosystem and the opportunities it offers for working with scientific, technological, business and market intelligence.
The second day began with the session “AI Tools for Staying Informed and Understanding the Wider Environment”, in which Alba Santa Soriano and Javier Martínez mapped out the current landscape of AI solutions, highlighting the main models, techniques and applications that are reshaping how valuable information is accessed, analysed and communicated.
Two practical workshops then explored new tools and approaches for AI-assisted information discovery, document summarisation, source comparison, market analysis, partner identification, report writing and the visualisation of large datasets, among other applications.
First, Vicente Barberá Navarro, from Viromii, used practical cases and examples to show how AI can be combined with specialised sources to gather relevant information on technologies, markets, companies and patents. He emphasised the importance of combining the capabilities of AI systems with expert analysis and human-led source validation within organisations.
The workshop led by Alberto Aliaga Rodríguez, from SUMAMOOS, then shifted the focus to data analysis and visualisation. Starting with a fundamental question—is AI really helping us make better decisions, or simply helping us produce analyses faster?—the session reached a clear conclusion: while AI tools are evolving rapidly and expanding our ability to identify patterns, create visualisations and synthesise information, understanding data, interpreting its meaning and turning it into sound decisions remain strategic human responsibilities.
The round table “AI Challenges and the Future of Systematic Intelligence Monitoring in Organisations” brought a broader professional and strategic perspective to the discussion. Introduced by Nancy Verónica Pérez, President of ALTEC, and moderated by Alba Santa, the session brought together Cristina Triviño (e-intelligent) and Iñaki Liébana (InTool) to explore how AI is reshaping professional and systematic approaches to technology monitoring and competitive intelligence.
Rather than focusing solely on the new features being added to AI tools, the discussion began by examining emerging signals of change and the future scenarios being put forward by leading international organisations. These perspectives helped frame the scale of the transformation underway and its implications for the intelligence function within organisations. The discussion also reinforced a key message: strategy, anticipation and organisational learning remain critical human capabilities for turning information into knowledge and supporting better decision-making.
From conversational assistants to autonomous agents
Another major shift explored during the course was the move towards systems with greater levels of autonomy, driven by the rapid emergence of AI agents and agentic AI. AI is beginning to move beyond the role of a conversational assistant towards agents capable of planning and taking action with increasing autonomy.
Against this backdrop, the workshop “Process Automation and Advances Towards AI Assistants”, led by Santiago Cantalapiedra Alcoceba from Cocreanet and developer of Terridata – Observatory of Rural Realities, demonstrated how emerging AI assistants and agents can combine different tools, access multiple information sources, plan tasks and operate within carefully designed workflows. This evolution points towards a new way of interacting with technology, where the challenge is no longer simply to automate processes, but to design effective forms of collaboration between people and AI agents to create greater value within organisations.
This shift represents a further step in AI’s potential as a driver of productivity, while also broadening the debate around the limits of delegation, the need for human oversight and accountability in the use of these technologies. It raises wider questions around technological and cognitive sovereignty, organisational governance, and the ethical and responsible use of AI, as well as the impact that this transformation may have on the global information economy.
Education as a response to a paradigm shift
If artificial intelligence is set to become one of the defining drivers of productivity today, the challenge is no longer purely technological: above all, it is educational. In his keynote address, “The New Era of Artificial Intelligence: Its Impact on Our Economies”, Andrés Pedreño Muñoz examined the signals showing how AI is reshaping the competitiveness of businesses, industries and regions, once again highlighting its adoption as a strategic issue with global implications.
His talk went beyond economic analysis to focus on people. Faced with a technology evolving at remarkable speed, he argued that the most effective response lies in courage, education and lifelong learning: fostering curiosity, experimenting, asking questions, and using AI in controlled settings to understand its real possibilities and limitations. Building a society of citizens and professionals who can adapt to change and adopt AI responsibly over the long term will be just as important as the development of the technology itself.
This reflection continued in the closing keynote by Alexis Alvear, Executive Director of the Vice-Rectorate for Digital Intelligence at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. Alongside sharing the university’s experience of implementing AI strategically across the institution, he invited participants to see artificial intelligence as an opportunity to rethink how we learn, work and lead change. Rather than offering ready-made answers, he called for an active approach to a landscape that is evolving every day. Despite the challenges ahead, we are at a decisive moment: understanding AI requires us to experiment with it, keep learning and make deliberate choices about how we want to integrate it into our organisations.
Experimenting to move forward in the age of artificial intelligence
The three-day course highlighted the growing need to develop new capabilities, encourage continuous learning and create safe spaces for experimentation in the age of AI. The experience may have raised more questions than it answered, but it also reinforced one clear conclusion: to understand the full potential of artificial intelligence—and make meaningful use of it—we need to keep learning, experimenting and sharing experiences.
This journey will continue through future editions and new learning opportunities offered by the University of Alicante as part of InteligenciaUA, creating spaces to understand these changes, build new capabilities and, ultimately, move responsibly and critically from knowledge to action in professional innovation contexts.