Small to Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) are vital to Europe’s economy but continue lagging behind larger firms in digital transformation (DT). This study identifies key SME-specific DT challenges: financial constraints, limited technical expertise, lack of strategic direction, and organizational resistance, through an AI-first literature review supported by human validation. In response, it introduces a conceptualization of the open-source SMEDT framework, which is do-it-yourself oriented and capability-driven. Designed with attention to contextual constraints such as knowledge dissemination gaps and high DT failure rates, the framework is a work-in-progress artifact for enabling self-guided transformation. The research contributes to the knowledge base on digital transformation in constrained contexts and advances the use of generative AI in early-stage design science. Future work includes advancing the SMEDT framework and its qualitative validation with SME stakeholders.