From Theory to Application
The second day of Al Andalus Innovation Venture 2025 turned Seville into the epicenter of applied artificial intelligence. After a first day focused on innovation and entrepreneurship, the event shifted to what truly matters: showcasing AI that actually works — the kind being deployed in hospitals, farms, courts, and factories, far from rhetoric and PowerPoint slides.
The organizers defined it clearly: it was about “showing real artificial intelligence.” And that reality was measured through concrete data, real-world use cases, and solutions already transforming entire industries.
A Consolidated Public Commitment
The day began with Diego Vargas, co-founder of the event, and Carmen León Bertrand, Deputy Director of Digital Society at the Andalusian Digital Agency. León Bertrand emphasized the institutional commitment to the region’s technological transformation: €839 million invested in digitalization over three years, through strategies such as Estrategia Cloud, Aprende Volando, and the 2030 AI Strategy.
She also announced the opening of the Andalusian Center for Artificial Intelligence in Granada and the creation of 11 technological nodes and four sectoral centers focused on mobility, port logistics, video games, and agrotech. The Andalusian administration is not just regulating — it’s implementing AI in healthcare, tourism, and agriculture, from breast cancer screening to predictive reservoir management.
The opening ceremony concluded with a symbolic gesture: the ringing of a bell brought from the Madrid Stock Exchange, marking the start of a day that united technology, investment, and public purpose.
State Investment and Industrial Vision
José Marino García, from the Spanish Society for Technological Transformation (SETT), provided an overview of the national effort around critical technologies — AI, quantum computing, cybersecurity, and semiconductors. He explained that SETT acts as an operational arm of the state to foster technological and industrial sovereignty, building public-private consortia that connect research, development, and production.
Marino structured his presentation around three key instruments: PERTE Chip, to attract foreign investment and strengthen local design and manufacturing capacity in semiconductors; Next Tech Fund, a public-private co-investment vehicle for AI and deep digital technologies; and Spain Audiovisual Hub, designed to reinforce the creative technology and content industries.
These initiatives do more than fund innovation — they retain value within the country, ensuring that intellectual property and generated employment remain in Europe.
From Myths to Business Reality
One of the most anticipated panels tackled the gap between AI promises and its real use in business. It featured representatives from Zinkee, General Dynamics Santa Bárbara Sistemas, and Isotrol, moderated by journalist Esther Molina.
The consensus was clear: most AI projects are not profitable because they are designed without a clear use case. According to an MIT study cited during the panel, 95% of AI projects fail to deliver measurable returns. The speakers agreed that the key is to start small — automate a process, optimize a workflow, validate results, and then scale.
For small and medium-sized enterprises, AI already offers tangible advantages — from inventory management to demand forecasting — but it requires planning, reliable providers, and above all, realistic goals.
Ethics, Regulation, and Trust
The debate also addressed the risks of uncontrolled AI. The discussion included extreme examples, from algorithms that induce wrong decisions to systems used to prevent suicides on social media.
Experts agreed that all critical decisions must maintain human oversight, at least until European legislation on autonomous systems stabilizes.
The message was clear: without ethics, there is no trust; without trust, there is no adoption.
Digital Twins and Technological Sovereignty
Another highlight came from Professor Óscar Cordón of the University of Granada, who presented a project on digital consumer twins — simulation models that reproduce purchasing behavior and responses to marketing campaigns. His approach moves away from generative AI and instead relies on behavioral economics and social machine learning, allowing predictions and strategy testing without intervening in real markets.
Meanwhile, Javier Bau of ATOS Iberia placed the debate in a global context: Europe needs supercomputing and technological sovereignty to sustain its competitiveness. Without computing capacity or chip production, he warned, the continent will remain dependent on external infrastructures.
Toward a Realistic, European AI Culture
The Seville event left a clear impression: Spain is learning to speak the language of AI through practice, not promises. Andalusia is emerging as a testing ground where public administration becomes a partner to companies, startups, and universities.
In a global landscape where AI is often presented as spectacle or threat, Al Andalus Venture showed something different: a technological culture beginning to mature — a European AI, realistic, connected to production networks, and oriented toward the common good.
When innovation stops being measured by the number of headlines and starts being evaluated by its impact on everyday life, that’s when it truly begins to transform society. And that, perhaps, is the best news Seville could leave behind.
Based on the report by La Ecuación Digital, available at laecuaciondigital.com.