You already know the conversation. "We should probably try AI at some point." Maybe you've dabbled—kicked the tires on ChatGPT, watched a demo or two, or delegated it to a team member who never quite got it off the ground.
Here's the thing: AI adoption among small businesses has surged significantly over the past year. This isn't experimentation anymore. It's operating reality. And if you're not using conversational AI—specifically chatbots and AI-powered customer engagement tools—you're already a year behind the curve.
Not because it's trendy. Because it works.
Why Conversational AI Comes First
If you run an SMB, you're already running lean. The vast majority of SMB founders wear multiple hats while running their business. Every minute you or your team spend on repetitive customer inquiries, scheduling requests, or basic support questions is a minute stolen from strategic work—the work that actually moves the business forward.
AI is being used for a variety of processes and tasks, such as generating invoices, creating estimates, and performing common HR functions. But the most accessible, highest-impact starting point? Conversational AI. Many SMBs are gravitating to AI for marketing support, with content marketing emerging as a popular use case.
Here's how I think about this: conversational AI gives you leverage without additional headcount. It's not about replacing people—the majority of small businesses using AI say it is enhancing rather than replacing their workforce—it's about automating the repetitive so your team can focus on the nuanced.
“Nothing is less productive than to make more efficient what should not be done at all”
My take: On choosing what to do and what to automate - AI isn’t just about doing things faster, and better, but also about choosing to do the right things.
Why this matters
Most small business users believe AI is essential to reaching new customers, and the overwhelming majority say it's necessary to meet rising consumer expectations for speed and personalization. Unequivocally yes. But at the same token, the customers you have today expect answers now.
When the year began, the expectation was that a vast majority of customer interactions were expected to be AI-powered by 2025. We are not there today. And that doesn't mean every business will get there. But eventually, and soon enough they will. If you dial back to a time when internet became a thing. Many SMBs were of the opinion I don’t need a website - “My customers know where to find me”. We all know better now! Same phenomenon today with AI, but the adoption is catching on really fast.
Imagine a prospect lands on your website at 11 PM and can't get a basic question answered, they're going to your competitor who can.
From a cash flow perspective, the economics are compelling. Digital assistants could reduce client service costs by billions of dollars. Businesses often see a 15–30% drop in support costs and a 10–20% boost in sales within a year. Some of the sales and marketing platforms as well as financial management platforms have invested significant amount of money to natively build AI into their capabilities. While they would like to charge businesses more, they realize embedding AI into their features is somewhat existential for them. Because if they don’t one of their competitors will even at the cost of giving those features away for free. Either way, SMB’s win.
“The playing field is poised to become a lot more competitive, and businesses that don't deploy AI and data to help them innovate in everything they do will be at a disadvantage."
What the data actually says
According to recent research, three-quarters of SMBs are experimenting with or using AI, and about a third have fully implemented AI in their operations. Over 90% of SMBs with AI say it boosts their revenue, and a similar percentage say it makes operations more efficient.
In 2025, the global conversational commerce market is valued at nearly $9 billion and is projected to grow significantly, reaching over $30 billion by 2035. This isn't a fad. It's infrastructure investment growth.
The majority of customer questions are resolved without human intervention when handled through conversational AI. That's not just efficiency that's also operational freedom. Could you for instance, redeploy investment into customer acquisition by making customer management more efficient? I think the answer is yes.
What you can do
Start with customer-facing engagement. Deploy a conversational AI tool on your website and key channels. Use it to answer FAQs, qualify leads, and route complex questions to your team. You don't need a custom-built solution—platforms like Intercom, Drift, or HubSpot have SMB-friendly tiers with AI already embedded.
Integrate with what you already use. Suites such as Adobe Creative Cloud, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace incorporate AI capabilities, and the AI tools are included automatically with the cloud and software subscription. If you're already paying for these tools, you're leaving capability on the table.
Define handoff rules early. Not every conversation should stay with the bot. Billing disputes and complex issues need human touch, while straightforward return or cancellation requests can be handled effectively by AI. Know what your AI can handle and where humans add irreplaceable value.
Measure what matters. Track resolution rates, response times, and customer satisfaction scores before and after implementation. Tools like chatbots can deliver impressive ROI, but only if you're measuring it.
Don't overthink the training curve. Small companies may be hesitant to dive into the world of AI because they feel their workforce lacks the skills needed to optimize the use of such tools, but increasingly, solutions providers are incorporating AI into the technology tools that SMBs use, which is allowing SMBs to leverage the benefits of AI without any special technical expertise.
Use AI for follow-up automation. Following up with customers and prospects is critical, but manual outreach is time-consuming. Utilizing affordable AI automation within these tools allows SMBs to automate customer follow-ups based on behavior, with AI email automation optimizing subject lines and send times for better engagement.
The last set of words on this underscores the huge importance humans will continue to play in an AI supported business. For example, have you experienced when calling an automated IVR customer support (pick your favorite telecom provider) and you wished you could speak with a human instead? Same idea. Being thoughtful and measured approach to bring AI into your ‘business stack’ and combining or complementing with Human Resources is key.
One Question To Ask
If you don't have conversational AI deployed yet, ask yourself: How many hours per week does my team spend answering the same five questions? What would it be worth to get 70% of that time back?
TL;DR
• AI adoption among small businesses has surged over 40% in the past year, and conversational AI is leading the charge for SMBs.
• Most small business users believe AI is essential to reaching new customers and meeting rising consumer expectations for speed and personalization.
• Over 90% of SMBs with AI say it boosts their revenue and makes operations more efficient, with cost reductions and sales gains appearing within months.
• Start with customer-facing conversational AI tools—many are embedded in platforms you already pay for like Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, or HubSpot—and define clear handoff rules to human agents for complex issues.
• Measure resolution rates, response times, and customer satisfaction before and after implementation to track ROI and optimize performance over time.