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Research by the business advocate has revealed SME owners could harness a wider scope of opportunities through AI adoption such as increased productivity, efficiency, and flexibility.
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ACCI report reveals AI adoption will push SMEs to ‘thrive’
11 September 2024
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A new report by the Australian Chamber Commerce and Industry (ACCI) highlighted business owners could enhance the operation of their businesses and workers by adopting AI to benefit their productivity and efficiency.
The report, ‘Accelerating the Potential of AI in Business’ explored the potential of AI and considered key steps to address existing gaps and manage risks.
According to the report, several surveys conducted this year revealed approximately 23–25 per cent of small and medium-sized businesses are currently using AI in one way or another.
Based on a survey from NAB consisting of 700 SME respondents, 90 per cent of medium-sized businesses are planning to incorporate AI by 2026.
However, only 18 per cent of microbusinesses are currently utilising AI and only 23 per cent are planning to incorporate it by 2026.
ACCI CEO Andrew McKellar said SME owners need to understand how AI can be a “win” for individuals, businesses, and the economy as a whole.
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“AI adoption has the power to fundamentally improve productivity and enhance flexibility to ways of working in the near term, with benefits to business and workers,” he said.
“Some estimates have AI boosting the Australian economy by up to $20 billion per year by 2030 and creating 150,000 jobs.”
Eighty-seven per cent of small businesses that have been using AI have already noticed savings in costs and time as a result of the AI adoption, according to the report.
Demand for AI is being driven by three common reasons, including the improvement of product and efficiency, less time spent on manual routine activities, and the improvement of profitability.
The report said there are also common areas in which SMEs have begun incorporating AI use, as well as differences in SME owners.
“The most common areas SMEs have begun trialling AI is for content creation and editing, idea generation and automation of routine activities,” the report said.
“Generational differences in likely adoption of AI were also noted with younger business leaders being more likely to invest in AI.
“Among Gen Z and millennials, this figure is at 75 per cent, compared to around 50 per cent for older generations.”
The report said research conducted by Intuit found the main benefits SMEs associate with AI adoption were timesaving, expanded sales, and lower costs.
This research by Intuit demonstrated SMEs are “open” to automation yet want control over the processes involved despite trusting the capabilities of AI.
“They want solutions that are easy to use and understand, they want guidance and education to help them navigate this new technology,” the report said.
“Accuracy is key but customers don’t expect it to be 100 per cent as ultimately their goal is to operate and grow their business efficiently.”
McKellar said it is “prime time” for SME owners to adopt the simple principles of AI and ACCI encourages them to capitalise on the opportunity.
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