Artificial intelligence (AI) is rewriting business rules faster than universities and formal training can catch up. For women entrepreneurs, the pressure is even greater. They’re trying to scale businesses, stay competitive, and adapt to technologies that keep updating the rules, all while dealing with barriers that make reskilling harder: limited funding, little time, and training programs built for corporate managers, not founders juggling a venture and family life.

This isn’t an abstract problem. For Europe’s SME-driven economy, where just 13% of businesses use AI, the ability to learn new skills—often called reskilling—can mean the difference between growth and decline. Yet women remain underrepresented in the very sectors driving AI adoption. Across the bloc, just one in five ICT specialists is female, a gap that risks deepening as AI transforms industries.

Europe cannot afford to let half its entrepreneurial talent lag behind in the AI race. So the pressing question isn’t whether women founders need to reskill, but rather, how can women entrepreneurs reskill quickly enough to keep up with AI?

The barriers women face in reskilling

I’ve known these barriers firsthand. I grew up in a tiny, quiet, rural Russian town, where life was scripted for women. From an early age, I knew education would be my escape. But even after building a career, I found myself repeatedly hitting the glass ceiling in the corporate world, evidence that traditional education often falls short in preparing women for real success, especially in male-dominated industries.

And that gap hasn’t gone away. Across Europe, women entrepreneurs still face barriers to reskilling. Caregiving responsibilities, underfunded ventures, and limited networks reduce women’s access to training. As Eurofound research shows, “women are more likely than men to provide unpaid care, and are especially likely to provide care intensively, and to juggle multiple care roles.” And time poverty leaves little room for long-format study programs.

Funding hurdles also compound this problem. In 2024, female founders in Europe raised just €5.76 billion. That represents only 12% of all VC capital raised and a 12% drop from 2023. Less capital means fewer resources to invest in reskilling or to bring in external expertise on AI adoption.

Another barrier is awareness itself. The AI software market is growing at 25% a year, with new tools hitting the market every week. For entrepreneurs, the real challenge isn’t a lack of options but knowing which ones matter, and which will be obsolete by the time you’ve learned them.

Even when opportunities exist, traditional education rarely fits into entrepreneurial life. Traditional education, like degrees, is too expensive and slow to keep up with AI. For women founders, stepping away from day-to-day operations isn’t a realistic option.

What women need are practical, agile ways to reskill without abandoning their ventures. Solutions must deliver knowledge that can be applied immediately, allowing women-led businesses to stay competitive in a market where AI is already changing the rules of growth.

Microlearning: Europe’s shortcut to AI readiness

Microlearning is built for the speed of modern entrepreneurship. Instead of committing to full-time courses, entrepreneurs can build skills through short, practical modules focused on one capability at a time. From mastering AI-driven marketing analytics to streamlining operations with automation tools, these “bite-sized lessons” are designed to fit around a founder’s schedule.

Because microlearning is built for action, founders can put new skills to work straight away, such as refining a marketing campaign with AI-generated customer insights within days instead of months. And unlike most online courses, where people often drop out, microlearning keeps learners engaged, with completion rates averaging around 80%.

This higher effectiveness is especially relevant in Europe, as the EU’s Digital Decade 2030 aims for 80% of adults to have basic digital skills. But gender disparities remain stark. For example, German and Swedish women account for just 20.3% and 22.4% of the AI workforce. But microlearning offers a lever to close the gender gap, giving women entrepreneurs faster, more accessible entry points into AI skills.

Microlearning also matches the structure of Europe’s economy. With 99% of all EU businesses being SMEs, microlearning is more convenient, affordable, remote, and accessible.

For female entrepreneurs who are looking to upskill through microlearning:

• Start with revenue-critical skills. Focus first on AI for marketing (targeting, campaigns), finance (cash flow forecasting, invoice automation), and customer service (multilingual chatbots).
• Link learning to live business tasks. Block two 30-minute slots a week and apply each module immediately. For instance, learn AI email tools on Monday and apply them to a campaign on Tuesday.
• Track the return. As I shared with Entrepreneur last year, upskilling should be measured like any business investment. When training is linked to tangible business outcomes, like sales growth, reduced admin costs, or stronger client retention, it moves from theory to impact.

From reskilling to competitive advantage

Large corporations often move slowly because of bureaucracy, compliance, and mass employee retraining. Smaller firms, by contrast, can pivot quickly. In SME-heavy Europe, that agility is an advantage. Surveys back this up: nearly half of SMEs report profitability gains from digital tools. Yet 43% also say lack of time for training holds them back, a tension that makes microlearning crucial.

But turning reskilling into a real competitive edge takes more than individual effort. Women founders need an ecosystem around them. Investors should back leaders who treat AI upskilling as part of their growth plan, not an afterthought. And rather than offer generic management theory for corporate managers, learning platforms must deliver short, practical courses that solve everyday SME problems, from automating invoices to running multilingual marketing campaigns.

Policy has an essential role to play, too. Programs such as the EU’s Digital Europe Programme, with its €7.5 billion committed to digital skills and infrastructure by 2027, and Women TechEU grants are critical resources that entrepreneurs should tap into. Local SME hubs and chambers of commerce also increasingly offer subsidized training, bringing reskilling within reach of more founders.

AI won’t wait, and neither can Europe’s entrepreneurs. For women founders, reskilling isn’t a side project but a survival strategy and can become a competitive edge if done right. Microlearning gives them a way to reskill at the pace of business—applying new skills immediately—and to turn technology into a driver of growth. What’s needed now is widespread commitment from investors and policymakers, too, so Europe’s digital ambitions include women at the forefront.