AI Use by SMEs in the United States: Only 3.9%!

I recently organized, chaired, and spoke at the first annual AI4RF Master Class held at the global law firm Clifford Chance in Canary Wharf, London on November 29, 2024. I was an afternoon of great networking, conversation and learning for all.

One of the data metrics that I used at the outset of my presentation is reproduced below. It was ironically published the day before AI4RF, so I didn’t get the opportunity to incorporate it into my slide deck but I “winged it” and added to the speech using the old fashion easel approach.

According to the United States Census Bureau, only 3.9% of businesses surveyed use AI to produce goods or services today. The research note, written by Cory Breaux and Emin Dinlersoz published on November 28, 2023, also revealed that the highest use of AI was not surprisingly in the Information Sector. Their blog noted that “artificial intelligence (AI) is all the buzz these days, but a U.S. Census Bureau survey shows the technology is yet to be widely adopted by businesses. Only 3.8% of businesses reported using AI to produce goods and services, according to the most recent Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS) but it is more widely used in certain industries such as information and tech sectors. Businesses in the Information sector reported greater levels of AI use than the national average: 13.8% of businesses indicated that they were currently using the technology. The BTOS provides a bi-weekly snapshot of AI and its use by businesses. In September, we began asking businesses about their current and planned future use of artificial intelligence in addition to other key items such as revenues, employees, hours, and inventories. The BTOS measures business conditions and projections on an ongoing basis and is representative of all nonfarm employer businesses in the fifty states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

The chart below is reproduced from the BTOS Press Release and is © United States Census Bureau, 2023.

What jogged my memory on this very small overall use of AI by SMEs and others in the United States was a blog/advertisement that I read earlier this morning. It is important to note that this is an advertisement for Intuit and their wide array of services that they provide to SMEs in the United States and globally. Also please note that I am endorsing or selling Intuit services and this information is presented only on an informational/learning use.

The heading of their blog was this: “More than 50% of small businesses don’t survive beyond their fifth year”. Frankly this percentage seemed low to me, so I did some online research to see if their data was correct or not.

And what I found was this:  According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), data from the BLS shows that approximately 20% of new businesses fail during the first two years of being open, 45% during the first five years, and 65% during the first 10 years. Only 25% of new businesses make it to 15 years or more.  So, I would assess their statement as being accurate.

What struck a nerve with me is that they (Intuit) them outlined the tools that they already provide to SMEs to help them beat these formidable odds documented above. Again, recall that 99.9% of all businesses in the United States as SMEs and that only a small fraction (3.9%) of them use AI today. Here is the text reproduced verbatim from their ad and again, I am sure that Intuit is one of many service providers in their space that offer similar and other tools in the AI area.

Note: the advertisement was written by the Intuit blog team and was originally published on September 24, 2023. It was updated November 6, 2023. And it notes that “For more than 5 years, Intuit has been driving AI innovation to help small businesses grow and do more. Our AI tools empower small businesses in new ways to solve their most important financial problems.

Intuit’s mission is to power prosperity around the world and help customers and communities overcome their most important financial challenges. Helping small businesses succeed is personal for us. Small businesses power local communities and are the economic engines of countries all over the world, but more than half don’t survive beyond their fifth year. 

As a company, Intuit is committed to helping our small business customers beat the odds. One way we’re doing this is by putting artificial intelligence (AI) tools in the hands of small businesses. We’ve been doing this for over five years—driving AI innovation to help our customers solve their most important problems. We’ve been a leader in taking the technology that big businesses use and tailoring it to match small business needs. 

In early September, we announced Intuit Assist, a new generative AI (GenAI)-powered assistant designed to provide personalized, intelligent recommendations to help our consumer and small business customers make smart financial decisions with less work and complete confidence, enabling them to put more money in their pockets.

In QuickBooks, we’re using AI to provide guidance to small businesses on how to adapt, react, and make informed business decisions. From surfacing cash flow hot spots to identifying top-selling products and spending anomalies, we’re helping small business owners make more money with less work.

In Mailchimp, we’re leveraging AI to help businesses personalize marketing at scale and make data-backed decisions to measure, fine-tune, and optimize campaigns. With just a few clicks, our AI tools can help businesses draft a custom email, and then change the tone, the text, and the images, all based on the guidance it’s given. This can help business owners create personalized experiences at scale and boost revenue. 

And for consumers, Intuit Assist is helping with personal finance and taxes in Credit Karma and TurboTax. We’re excited about the positive impact that our AI tools can have—especially on small businesses.”

© Intuit, 2023.

Again, I am not endorsing or promoting Intuit or their suite of services. I just found it very interesting that perhaps many/some SMEs who responded to the Census Bureau survey that they do not use AI at the present time might actually be doing so when they use very popular tools marketed and sold by Intuit and others today.