Lisbon, Nov. 24, 2025 (Lusa) - Around 70% of Portuguese managers use generative AI in a professional context, according to the study ‘The challenges faced by managers in adopting generative artificial intelligence’ by AESE Business School and Instituto Superior Técnico.
‘But we are still in the early stages. Taking full advantage, continuing to identify opportunities for use, and training employees and teams is the next challenge,’ reads the study, which indicates that ‘the amount of use should correspond to ever-increasing quality and added value.’
The managers surveyed in the study say they use generative AI several times a week, with the majority (56%) indicating that they use it for information research, 46% for writing and 43% for text summarisation.
For learning purposes, 39% said they use it; for text analysis, 37%; and for idea generation, decision support, and data analysis, 28%, 24%, and 18%, respectively.
‘In the future, the challenge will be to take full advantage of the technology, continue to identify opportunities for use, and train employees and teams so that the quantity of use corresponds to ever-increasing quality and added value,’ according to the study.
Managers tend to use generative AI more in larger companies, and ‘the most represented sectors of activity are finance & banking, education, ICT [information and communication technologies] and professional services.’
‘In less exposed sectors, greater effort may be needed to adopt Generative AI,’ such as agriculture, construction, industry, transport and logistics, catering and accommodation, with specific training initiatives that demonstrate the advantages for different use cases. This conclusion is consistent with what is known about innovation: ‘smaller companies have to make an additional effort,’ it says.
‘This is not necessarily solely a question of greater financial effort; most tools offer a level of free access which, despite its limitations, allows value to be obtained,’ so ‘it will be important to consider purchasing licences for at least those employees who can benefit most,’ he adds.
ChatGPT (91%) is the AI model most used by managers, followed by Copilot (55%) and Gemini (27%).
‘All these tools, and the underlying models, are highly dynamic, with frequent changes, and the best tool for a given task can be surpassed from one day to the next,’ according to the study, which says that ‘it is worth paying some attention and experimenting with tools other than those usually used.’
In addition to commercial tools, there is also a growing number of open-source models that can be adapted to more specific needs," according to the findings.
However, ‘there is still a long way to go, i.e., it is necessary to encourage and reinforce the adoption of Generative AI,’ the most important thing being to demonstrate the usefulness of the technology, for example, through practical training or specific applications of its potential, tailored to the real needs of different types of users.
The study was conducted by Jorge Costa da Silva, a researcher at AESE Business School; Francisco Lima, an associate professor of Engineering and Organisational Management at Instituto Superior Técnico; and Miguel Mira da Silva, a professor of Information Systems at Instituto Superior Técnico, and focuses on individual use.
‘The next step will be to consider corporate adoption, with the introduction of Generative AI into business processes,’ according to the authors.
A total of 406 people from the AESE Business School Alumni community were surveyed between February and March this year, with 45.8% holding senior management positions and 36.9% holding top management positions.
ALU/ADB // ADB.
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