Artificial intelligence (AI) has proven its potential to drive growth and success. We have seen how its adoption helps companies in their processes and allows for greater employee productivity and efficiency. And this potential can be harnessed by businesses of all sizes.
To understand the use, impact and adoption of AI in SMEs, we conducted our annual SME survey “AI in SMEs: Trends, Challenges and Opportunities”, among business decision-makers in micro, small and medium enterprises from Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Costa Rica and Puerto Rico were surveyed. These companies operate in various sectors such as retail, food and beverage, construction, and technology and telecommunications.
Here are some of the most important discoveries.
How are SMEs investing in AI?
For the companies surveyed, investing in AI is among their top four priorities, since in 2023, 33% of them have invested in this technology (in Brazil, 47% of companies have done so, followed 37% in Canada and 29% in Brazil). Argentina and Colombia) and 71% will continue or start investing in AI in the next period. At the same time, 35% of companies surveyed have dedicated part of their investments to AI and plan to increase it in the coming months.
In terms of technology budget allocated to AI, Mexico leads with 30%, followed by Brazil and Colombia with 29%, then Argentina and Puerto Rico with 26%.
Regarding the type of investment made, 54% of companies focus on improving customer service satisfaction (led by Brazil with 61%), followed by commercial efficiency with 51% (led by Canada with 63 %) and avoid falling behind the competition with 44% (where Costa Rica stands out with 64%). In this section, Canadian companies stand out for their notable investments in AI to boost efficiency or creativity, with 63%.
How are SMEs using AI?
From our survey, we found that companies have a positive attitude towards AI, with optimistic expectations about its impact on their business. Thanks to this approach, we see that 78% of SMEs in the countries studied are currently seeking to adopt AI (in Brazil with a percentage of 90% of companies), and 73% of them invite their employees to use it.
Overall, 45% of companies have made significant progress in adopting AI, and this is reflected in how they use it. In total, 57% of SMBs use it primarily in the form of customer service virtual assistants, followed by its use to save time at work (47%) and to generate images and content (36%). It is worth emphasizing that the main use of customer service virtual assistants is linked to the type of investment made, which primarily aims to improve customer service satisfaction.
How do SMEs benefit from using AI?
The benefits identified in AI adoption focus on improving efficiency and customer service. 68% of SMEs in the region report having improved their efficiency (Brazil leads with 72% of SMEs mentioning this benefit, followed by 72% in Costa Rica and 69% in Canada). Regarding customer service, 52% of SMEs mention it as a benefit, with Colombia leading in this category with 62%.
Most SMEs view the impact of AI on productivity as positive. Our survey found that 84% of respondents agree that the impact of AI on productivity is positive; in addition, this technology allowed an average increase of 40% in the productivity of the SMEs surveyed, demonstrating that its use was beneficial to them.
SME employees are increasingly using AI in their work and, in general, we notice that they have adopted similar frequency strategies, hiring employees with AI experience and training their existing employees, in the aim of ensuring the presence of these skills within their staff.
It is important to highlight that 57% of the SMEs surveyed consider the AI skills of their staff to be quite strong, an aspect which may be linked to the fact that more than half of the participating SMEs have already undergone some form of AI training . for their employees.
The potential of AI for SMEs
As our survey shows, AI has proven to be a valuable tool for SMEs, allowing them to increase productivity, improve customer service and enhance the skills of their employees. As its adoption grows, we will be able to see even more benefits and different ways to use it that will help them grow and succeed.
“Artificial intelligence has been proven to help businesses of all sizes and industries achieve more. At Microsoft, we maintain our commitment to democratizing its use so that more SMEs have access to it, use it and take advantage of its advantages to be more productive, offer better services and products and grow, supported by technology, in a increasingly vast environment. competitive business world,” said José Gómez Cueto, general manager of Small and Medium Business at Microsoft for the Americas.
Microsoft, through its AI solutions, is well positioned to help SMBs take advantage of this technology, which has the potential to drive their growth today and tomorrow. If you want to learn more, read this text from Roberto Icasuriaga, Director of SMB and Digitally Native Enterprises for Microsoft Latin America and Caribbean, who analyzes the survey results and the benefits of AI for SMBs.
