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3 Ways Small Businesses Can Leverage AI

Generative artificial intelligence offers benefits for SMBs — if they effectively navigate security, ethics and ROI considerations.

Bill Snell

Bill has been in the IT business for more than 25 years. He has been highly focused on discussing and whiteboarding infrastructure solutions with customers, including server, storage, virtualization, backup and recovery, and cloud-based projects. His experience with hundreds of data centers allows him to discuss the technologies that are relevant to projects that can help customers meet current goals and future needs. He educates small business customers on the latest technology and market trends to help them find the best solutions.

Generative artificial intelligence powered by machine learning algorithms and powerful graphics processing units (GPUs) can help small businesses level the playing field. According to Harvard Business Review, “generative AI has the potential to close the content, insight, and technology gaps that large corporations typically have over their smaller counterparts.”

Small business leaders aren’t shy about experimenting with generative AI: Almost three-quarters have experimented with the technology, and 26% are using it for work.

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Getting Started With AI

AI can mean different things to different companies. For some, the biggest promise of AI is found in automating key processes. For others, it’s about streamlining data analytics. And for still others, content generation is the priority.

Many are still formulating their goals. When it comes to getting started, first have a conversation with a qualified partner who knows what’s possible and what it takes to get you where you want to go. Once a basic plan is in place, the next step is selecting tools that enable desired outcomes. This often means using off-the-shelf technologies such as ChatGPT or Microsoft Copilot, which are known quantities in the AI industry.

Three AI Use Cases for Small Businesses

The evolving nature of AI tools means they’re not limited to specific applications. For small businesses, however, three use cases are most common:

Automating routine tasks. AI tools can be used to automate tasks such as data entry, simple customer service and break-fix IT support. This allows staff to focus on higher-value organizational projects.
Performing predictive maintenance. Equipment failure is costly and time-consuming. Whether it’s a server that suddenly stops working or production line machinery that abruptly seizes up, retroactive repairs are not ideal. By training AI with historical performance data along with information about early issue indicators, intelligent tools can help identify issues before they become problems. This allows SMBs to proactively perform maintenance, which saves time and money.
Accelerating key processes. Advanced GPUs can work in tandem with AI tools to enhance data processing, improve graphics rendering and streamline the process of new content creation. This allows SMBs to complete projects more quickly and better compete with their corporate counterparts.

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How To Navigate Three AI Challenges

AI deployment doesn’t happen in isolation. Implementing generative AI tools and enhancing their performance with advanced GPUs creates challenges that SMBs must address to maximize AI potential. Here are three common ones:

Data governance and hygiene. Small businesses now hold massive amounts of data. This data is spread out across multiple sources and contains different types of business, personal and confidential information. As a result, companies must prioritize the identification and classification of data to ensure it’s put into the right models.
AI tools are now used by both businesses and bad actors. From model theft and data manipulation to evolving malware and ransomware, small businesses need to invest in next-generation security solutions.
Return on investment isn’t guaranteed with AI. For small businesses to ensure they’re getting back more than they put in, it’s worth starting with a proof of concept in a cloud environment. If models don’t perform as intended, head back to the drawing board. If they deliver, start scaling up.

UP NEXT: Watch the biggest SMB 2025 tech trends.

For SMBs, implementing generative AI solutions requires careful consideration of security, ethics and ROI issues. In practice, the outcome is worth the effort: These technologies offer the potential to eliminate manual processes, reduce costs and enhance productivity across a wide range of applications.

This article is part of BizTech’s AgilITy blog series.