AI in Bulgarian business: 8.55% and how to join them

In 2025, 8.55% of Bulgarian businesses with 10 or more staff used at least one AI technology. The EU average was 19.95%. Bulgaria ranks third from bottom in the Union. That sounds like bad news — but for firms that start now it's an edge.

What the data shows

Bulgaria's share is growing, but the EU's is growing faster — the gap is widening. In Denmark 42% of firms use AI; in Finland 37.8%.

Why firms give up

Only 4.89% of Bulgarian firms had even considered AI. Of those, 72.69% cited a lack of expertise as a reason not to adopt it. In other words, the problem is rarely money or technology — it's that nobody in the company knows where to start.

People already use it

22.5% of Bulgarians aged 16–74 used generative AI in the three months before the survey, and nearly half (49.98%) of 16–24-year-olds. Your staff are probably already trying ChatGPT — the question is whether the company has rules and gets the benefit.

The labour shortage

58% of Bulgarian SMEs say it's hard to find qualified staff, and 40% say it's “very difficult” (Eurobarometer, December 2025). AI doesn't replace people, but it can take on the routine part of their work and free their time for what they were hired to do.

Where to start: 5 steps

1. Measure. For one week, note which tasks repeat and how long they take.
2. Pick one. The most repetitive, with clear rules and low risk — like answering common questions or confirming orders.
3. Set rules. Which data may be used, who approves, when the AI asks a person.
4. Run it in parallel. For the first weeks the AI works alongside the team, not instead of it.
5. Measure again. Hours, errors, enquiries answered. Then pick the next task.

Why now

When 9 out of 10 firms in your sector don't use AI yet, every enquiry you answer in a minute rather than a day is an edge over competitors. In a few years it will be the norm, not an advantage.

Sources

1. BTA — 8.55% of Bulgarian enterprises use AI (Eurostat, 2025)
2. AI Council at BCCI — AI adoption gap
3. AI Council at BCCI — Why companies decided against AI
4. BNR — Bulgaria faces EU's most severe labour shortage (2026)
5. Eurostat — Use of artificial intelligence in enterprises