OpenAI brings SME AI Accelerator to London with Enterprise Nation, Munich and Paris next

Around 200 small businesses attended a hands-on session focused on using ChatGPT and Codex for customer response, marketing, and workflow automation, with the program heading to Germany and France this month.

Small business owners work through hands-on AI exercises at OpenAI's SME AI Accelerator in London, run in partnership with Enterprise Nation.

OpenAI has taken its SME AI Accelerator program to London in partnership with Enterprise Nation, bringing together around 200 small businesses for a day of practical AI training focused on tools including ChatGPT and Codex.

The event, is part of a European roadshow that moves to Munich on Monday and Paris on June 8. It is structured as a hands-on workshop rather than a keynote-style presentation, with small business owners working through exercises designed to apply AI to their daily operations.

Goncalo Torres, who leads GTM Strategy and Growth at OpenAI, shared details of the London session on LinkedIn. He described the format as focused on practical adoption over hype: "The opportunity for SMEs is significant, but practical adoption still matters more than hype. Events like this are about helping businesses use AI on the work that matters every day: saving time, improving output, and staying competitive."

Sessions covered customer response, finance, marketing, and agent building

The London program covered how small businesses can use ChatGPT and Codex to respond to customers faster, analyze revenue and finance data, turn customer feedback into actionable insights, plan marketing campaigns, and build repeatable workflows and agents.

Torres noted that what stood out was the level of existing engagement: "What stood out most was the curiosity in the room: founders and teams already using AI in creative and useful ways, and looking for the next step."

Prameet Dhaliwal, COO at Enterprise Nation, offered a more direct summary of the day's structure on LinkedIn: "Small businesses walked in with a challenge... and left having built an AI agent to solve it." She confirmed that 200 small businesses attended.

Two Enterprise Nation members spoke at the event. Janan Leo, founder of Coco Rose London, shared her business journey, while Rebecca Lane, founder of The Floral Hire, spoke about how she is using AI in day-to-day operations as she scales her business. Dhaliwal highlighted Lane's broader trajectory with Enterprise Nation, noting she had recently won a 10,000 pound prize at the organization's Ideas Fest pitch competition.

The session materials and exercises from the London event are available through the OpenAI Academy. The program's next stops are Munich on Monday and Paris on June 8.