The state is buying a €10 million platform to bring AI training to 100,000 Estonians. What it means for employers

The Estonian state has put a price on its plan to make the country the most AI-literate nation. On 13 October the State Shared Service Centre (Riigi Tugiteenuste Keskus) published a contract notice on behalf of the Government Office (Riigikantselei). The estimated value is €10 million excluding VAT. The winner will broker Eesti.ai workshops, online courses, special events, short lessons and discounted software licences, so that at least 100,000 working-age residents can reach quality AI training.

What the tender buys

According to the notice, the contract is expected to start on 31 December 2026 and end on 31 December 2029. Bids are due on 27 November, in Estonian only. Quality carries 60 points and price 40. The state did not split the tender into lots. It argues that building and running the platform, brokering training and creating short lessons form one connected whole, and that splitting them would blur responsibility and risk service gaps.

ERR read the tender documents and reported more detail. The platform will run at minu.eesti.ai and has to connect learners, trainers and others in the AI community. It must assess and track each user’s AI skills. The winner has to produce 1,000 short practical lessons, called õpiampsud, as videos, written guides or checklists. It also has to build and manage a network of at least 50 training providers. The front page must handle up to 400,000 simultaneous visitors, and a payment option will let people pay for courses.

How it fits with the July tender

This is the second Eesti.ai training tender this year. In July the Government Office announced a €5 million tender for the trainers themselves, split into lots for in-person training, online training and larger events. ERR reported then that the goal is for 100,000 working-age residents to attend at least one Eesti.ai workshop or short lesson in 2026 and 2027. A three-month pilot ran from April to June. In June the initiative received €11 million from the supplementary budget, of which €5.2 million was planned for the Government Office’s skills programme. Neither ERR article explains how the €10 million platform tender relates to those sums.

Arunädal comes first

Before the platform exists, Eesti.ai is running Arunädal, a nationwide AI volunteer week from 18 to 22 November. Thursday 19 November is dedicated to entrepreneurship and business. Public workshops are free, and registration opens on Fienta on 29 October. Companies can run workshops for their own staff or open them to outsiders. A company that brings in an Eesti.ai contract trainer has to open the session to everyone interested.

What an Estonian company should do on Monday

• ✳Put 29 October in the calendar and send staff the Arunädal link when registration opens. A free half day of hands-on practice costs you nothing but time
• ✳Decide whether to host an Arunädal session yourself. If one of your people already uses AI every day, a workshop for colleagues is a cheap way to find out who else is ready
• ✳Treat the state programme as the floor. A general workshop teaches what a chatbot is and how to write a good prompt. It will not redesign your invoicing, sales or customer support process, so budget your own training for that
• ✳Watch for the licence discounts the platform is meant to broker before you renew AI subscriptions for 2027
• ✳If you train people for a living, read the documents on the public procurement register before 27 November. The contract requires a network of at least 50 providers, so even firms that do not bid may end up working inside it

The state will cover basic AI literacy for a large part of the workforce over the next three years. Employers who plan around that can spend their own training money on the specific work only they understand.