How Small Businesses Can Adopt AI

AI Is No Longer Reserved for Large Corporations

Every minute counts when running an SME. In that context, artificial intelligence can seem like a luxury reserved for Fortune 500-type companies. Yet this perception is now outdated. AI for SMEs has become an accessible reality—like an assistant that automates repetitive tasks.

According to a study by France Num, adoption of AI among French microbusinesses and SMEs reached 13% in 2024. This significant growth shows that change is underway. Moreover, the SME and Entrepreneurship Outlook 2023 report by the OECD reveals that SMEs adopting automation and AI tools achieve, on average, a 10–20% increase in productivity. This trend is especially visible in sectors where repetitive tasks are numerous.

The goal isn’t to understand complex algorithms, but to see real results: less time spent on admin, more time for what matters most in your business.

Identifying Where AI Can Really Help Your Company

The first step is simple: take an honest look at your daily operations. List the tasks that take too much time, the ones you constantly postpone, or the ones prone to errors. These often hide your best opportunities.

Focus on three areas where results are usually quick:

Administrative tasks: email management, appointment scheduling, data entry…
Communication: finding ideas for social posts, drafting newsletter outlines.
Customer relations: answering the same frequently asked questions over and over.

As we often say, AI in business should start with a problem, not with a solution. Instead of asking “What’s the best AI tool?”, try asking: “Which task drains most of my energy every week?” This ensures technology adapts to your needs—not the other way around.

A relevant insight from the McKinsey study “The state of AI in 2023: Generative AI’s breakout year” reinforces this idea:
“Less than a third of respondents continue to say that their organizations have adopted AI in more than one business function, suggesting that AI use remains limited in scope.”
Many companies prefer to keep a very narrow scope for AI.

Accessible (and Often Free) AI Solutions

Once you’ve identified the tasks worth simplifying, it’s time to explore available tools. Many affordable AI solutions exist, often with free versions or trials so you can test without commitment. Here are a few categories to guide you:

Generative AI for content: Writing a newsletter, a LinkedIn post, or a product description can take hours. Tools like ChatGPT, Jasper, or Notion AI help you produce a first draft—a solid base you can then refine with your tone, your story, your style. Use these tools as assistants, not authors. AI writes fast, but your human touch turns text into meaning.
AI for customer support: Answering the same questions repeatedly? That’s over. Tools like Intercom Fin, Zendesk AI, or Tidio automate part of customer support while keeping a human tone.
No-code automation platforms: You can build workflows without writing a single line of code through platforms like Make (formerly Integromat), Zapier, or n8n. For example: when an invoice arrives in Gmail, it gets automatically stored in Google Drive and recorded in QuickBooks. When a lead submits a form on your website, they’re added to your HubSpot CRM and receive an automatic welcome email.
AI already built into your existing tools: We often forget it, but AI is already everywhere. Gmail’s Smart Reply suggests relevant responses. Microsoft 365 Copilot can summarize a Teams meeting or a Word document. Notion AI helps rewrite, structure, or prioritize your notes. Before adding a new tool, explore those you already use—you’ll be surprised by what they can do.
AI for personal productivity: If your day feels like a blur of open tabs, these tools are for you. Assistants like Motion, Reclaim, or Magical use AI to automatically organize your calendar, prioritize tasks, or generate repetitive messages (emails, customer replies…).

Of course, free AI tools have limits. They’re perfect for getting started, but more advanced usage may require upgrading to a paid version.

A Few Everyday Use Cases

Streamlining Customer Communication

Many websites have a chatbot—few are truly helpful. But paired with a solid knowledge base, a chatbot can answer most user questions. That saves time for your team and offers quicker answers for your clients. For example, I’ve often found what I needed through the chatbot of Dougs.

Automating Financial and Administrative Tasks

AI tools can connect to your invoicing system to scan receipts, extract relevant information such as amount and VAT, and file them automatically. The pro account from Legalstart does this very well.

Forwarding Messages or Emails

Many businesses act as intermediaries between clients and suppliers and spend a lot of time forwarding messages. With tools like n8n or make.com, these transfers can now be automated—and you can even use AI to adapt the message for the final recipient. We’ve implemented this for several clients recently 🐼

A Soft, Progressive Approach to Integrating AI

The key to integrating AI is not to try to revolutionize everything overnight. A gradual and thoughtful approach is far more efficient—even for SMEs.

Start small. Choose one task—the simplest, lowest-risk one. It could be the automatic transcription of a short internal meeting or the forwarding of an email from a supplier.
Test and measure. After using the tool for a week, did you save time? Was the tool easy to use?
Involve your team. Show the tool to your colleagues. Present it as an assistant, not a replacement. Encourage feedback.
Expand gradually. Once the first test is successful, identify the next task to simplify. This organic approach to SME automation ensures a smooth transition.

In Conclusion: Useful, Human-Centric, and Responsible AI 🌱

AI is not here to replace humans—for now—but to free up time. Every task should remain supervised: proofread, adjust, stay in control. The goal is to gain efficiency without sacrificing quality.

Let’s also remember: AI consumes energy. As highlighted by The Shift Project in its report “Deploying Digital Sobriety,” digital technologies—and therefore AI—have a real energy impact, making it essential to adopt targeted and measured usage.

Using AI intelligently also means choosing wisely, automating only what truly matters, avoiding excess (which would cost money anyway), and staying within a sustainable framework.

In short: test, measure, improve… but always keep humans at the center. They are the ones who turn technology into a real engine for growth.