Where do we even start with AI? Two rooms in Malta just answered it

Ask a business owner about AI and you rarely get a question about technology. You get a quieter one, usually asked after the meeting rather than during it: where do we even start with this??

This week, we tried to answer it in person. Twice.

On Tuesday 29 and Wednesday 30 September, we ran AI for Business at Microsoft Malta at SkyParks Business Centre. Two mornings. Two rooms full of people who actually run businesses: founders, owners, managers and team leads made up most of both audiences. Not a tech crowd. People with payroll, clients, inboxes and Monday mornings.

No jargon. Live demos. Honest answers.

We kept the promise we made in the invitation: no hype, no “revolutionise your business” slides. Just plain English, and live demonstrations of real workflows: the kind of admin and operations work that quietly eats hours in every company, done by AI agents while the room watched.

And then the part we were most determined to get right. We talked openly about the three questions every sensible owner should ask before letting AI anywhere near their business: where does my data go? Who can see it? What does the contract actually say? We did not wave those questions away. We answered them, and we told the room that anything we promised on stage, we would put in writing.

That honesty is not a caveat to the AI story. It is the story. Tools you cannot trust are just expensive demos.

What the rooms told us

We asked every attendee for honest feedback, and 26 of them sat down and filled in the form before they left. The average rating across both mornings came out at 4.42 out of 5, and not one person rated the session below three stars.

More interesting than the stars: we asked people to rate their own understanding of AI before the session and after it. More than half came out higher. Not one person came out lower. The biggest jump was in the Wednesday room, which started the morning rating themselves lowest of all and finished level with everyone else.

When we asked what was most useful, the same words kept coming back: the live demo. The agents. Real examples. Practical experience. One attendee put it better than we could:

A very interesting session, my first time that someone actually managed to clarify what and how AI may actually be applied in practical terms - thanks

— anonymous session feedback, 30 September

We also asked what they would do next. The answers were not applause; they were orders. Most said they want hands-on workshop training. A strong group wants a dedicated session on the EU AI Act. Several asked about tailored, in-company work for their own teams. Others simply asked us to keep them informed. That is a to-do list, and we are building from it.

What we learned

Two mornings confirmed something we keep seeing in Maltese businesses. The gap is almost never the technology. The tools exist, they are affordable, and they are getting better every month. The gap is the first honest hour: someone walking a business through what AI can actually do, what it costs, where the data goes, and where to start on Monday morning.

That first hour is what AI for Business is for. We will run it again.

To everyone who gave us two mornings of their time: thank you for the questions, the scepticism and the generosity. Thank you to Microsoft Malta for hosting us at SkyParks. And if you were in the room and want the next step, or if you missed it and want in on the next one: you will find us here.

AI adoption, taught properly.