Imagine that there is an employee who works 24 hours a day, seven days a week, who never gets tired, is never late, does not receive a salary and can write your advertisements, design your flyersrespond to your customers, and plan your marketing strategy — all at the same time. That employee exists. It’s called artificial intelligence. And according to the data I just collected, 85% of entrepreneurs in Puerto Rico already have it working for them.
I recently conducted a study with 108 entrepreneurs from our island — most of them women, with active businesses in sectors such as fashion, beauty, food and professional services. The results left me with two simultaneous emotions: pride and worry.
The pride comes from confirming that the Puerto Rican entrepreneur is not afraid of technology. Only 1% of participants said they had no interest in AI. The rest—99%—already use it or want to learn how to use it. That’s a powerful sign of a living, curious and resilient ecosystem.
The concern comes from something that the numbers also clearly reveal: 60% of these entrepreneurs have never received formal training in the use of artificial intelligence for business. They strike out on their own, learn in fits and starts, and use tools intuitively — without a strategy, without a plan, without measuring real impact.
And here’s the cost that no one is calculating: When you use AI without direction, you are leaving hours of work, money on inefficient advertising, opportunities for automation, and, above all, competitive advantage on the table. The entrepreneur who uses it with a clear purpose is literally buying time — a commodity that no bank in the world can sell him.
The numbers confirm it: 47% already report a positive impact on their income, 81% feel that their productivity improved and 73% save between one and 15 hours per week thanks to these tools. Hours that they now dedicate to their families, growing their business or simply breathing.
Puerto Rico has plenty of entrepreneurial talent. What we are missing is strategic education in technology — accessible, in Spanish and designed for the reality of the small and medium-sized businessman on our island.
Is not knowing how to use AI costing you money? The honest, data-driven answer is yes. But the good news is that it has never been easier to learn. The first step is not to buy an expensive tool or take a six-month course. The first step is to decide that technological ignorance is no longer an option.
The machine has already arrived in Puerto Rico. And he’s waiting for you to tell him what to do.