As part of the second edition of the Sage Download, the newsletter that covers all you need to know about how technology and innovation is driving business growth, we’ve spoken to a range of experts to outline the simple steps you can take to get started with using AI in your business. We explore how to overcome many of the concerns and anxieties currently holding businesses back.
By David Prosser
Artificial intelligence is for everyone. If you run a small or mid-sized business, don’t think this technology is only for massive global corporations with armies of data scientists and AI engineers. With simple, practical and affordable steps, you can make AI work for your business too.
Small and mid-size businesses (SMBs) must not miss out on the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution. Recent research from BGF, the fund set up by the UK Government and leading banks to invest in growing businesses, suggests this is a real risk. While 90% of SMB leaders believe AI could be an opportunity for their business, less than a third have allocated any budget to AI investment.
That’s understandable. Amid all the hype around AI – and generative AI (GenAI) tools such as ChatGPT – many SMBs are anxious about the technology. They worry about challenges such as cost, technical complexity and security. And they fear they lack the skills and experience to use AI effectively.
The good news, says Andrew Grill, a technology expert and the author of Digitally Curious, a bestselling book about how AI is reshaping business, is that all these challenges can be overcome. “The key is just to try it,” he says. “If you can be digitally curious, you’ll very quickly start to have those ‘aha’ moments.”
Shevaun Haviland, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), warns that SMBs which are not prepared to explore their curiosity risk being eclipsed by their competitors. The BCC’s research suggests that while only 25% of SMBs are currently using AI tools, these firms are experiencing positive results. “The pace of technological change is speeding up, not slowing down,” she says. “Many firms risk being left behind.”
David Dickson, who leads Sage AI's division, urges SMBs to confront their fears. “The potential of AI is to help SMBs compete on a level playing field with much larger businesses,” he says. “Suddenly, you can match the work done by the armies of people those businesses have at their disposal.”
What does that mean in practice? To help more SMBs embrace AI, we asked a range of technology experts for their tips on how to get started. These are their simple but effective recommendations for putting AI to work in your business.
1. Start small with a business problem that bothers you
Starting small will help you get familiar with AI tools – and give you practical experience of whether and how they might help your business. The key, suggests Sage’s David Dickson, is to identify a problem in your business that needs solving, and then begin your AI experiments with that.
“Use AI because there are jobs that it can do to help your business, not because you feel you should be using AI,” Dickson says. “As you use AI to take on more of these jobs, you’ll begin to see by just how much it can accelerate your productivity.”
Look for specific, well-defined problems. Maybe you’re struggling to keep up with customer inquiries or worried about the quality of the marketing content you produce. Maybe your finance team spends too much time processing invoices to think about your sales trends.
2. Pick easy-to-use and affordable AI tools
Your particular business challenge could be almost anything, but there will be an off-the-shelf AI tool you can try to see if it helps. Free-of-charge online directories such as There’s an AI for That and ToolBox AI are a good place to search. Many of these tools operate on a “freemium” basis – you can try the basics out at little or no cost, with more extensive services costing more – but for most simple business uses, prices will not be prohibitive.
“Focus on the basics,” says Andrew Grill. “How would I use this AI tool, what will it cost me and what might I get out of it?”
The possibilities are almost endless. Otter.ai, for example, will transcribe your meetings and automatically summarise key action points. Grammarly will enhance your writing and check your grammar. Jasper will create marketing copy and social media post for your business.
In the finance domain, Sage’s own Copilot tool provides multiple AI-powered services, unlocking insights on areas such as profitability, cashflow, overdue payments and customer activity.
You could also start trying out GenAI. For example, ChatGPT’s Plus service, which helps with tasks such as text analysis, document summaries and brainstorming costs only $20 (£16) a month.
3. Start to be more ambitious by focusing on business workflows
Once you’ve successfully implemented an AI tool to perform an isolated task, you’ll start to feel confident about doing more. Try mapping out some of the common workflows in your business to identify the repetitive tasks involved and where AI might speed things up and reduce manual inputs.
“A tool like Copilot will automate your manual processes, but it will also provide insights into your business that enable you to make smarter and faster decisions,” says Dickson. “It should be proactive, notifying you about which vendors owe you money say, or managing the monthly close that is an issue for many mid-sized businesses, and it can also support your growth, by helping you with capabilities such as marketing.”
One question to start thinking about as your AI experiments progress is the data that your business generates and stores. Many AI tools depend on good-quality data to optimise their outputs – what data sources do you have in your business?
4. Get to grips with security, compliance and ethical risks
Every technology exposes your business to risks and AI is no exception, but addressing potential problem areas from the start will help you manage your vulnerabilities. Take advice from your legal team on compliance and regulation – or seek assistance from trade associations, professional bodies and other groups that have published lots of useful guides to this area.
This is an opportunity to show leadership and set an example to employees, customers, suppliers and other key business partners, says Tomoko Yokoi, researcher and adviser at IMD Business School in Lausanne. “Leaders must act as stewards, prioritising the responsible and ethical deployment of these technologies,” she says. “This involves building stakeholder trust by addressing concerns such as data privacy, transparency and ethical implications.”
Cybersecurity is also an important consideration. Check whether you need to take any further precautions as you add AI tools. And with employees increasingly using personal AI tools at work, make sure you have company-wide policies to manage data privacy and compliance – and that everyone understands them.
5. Experiment, adjust and repeat
If all goes well, your initial experiments with AI should gather pace and begin delivering good results. That should encourage you to step up activity – trying new things with the tools you already have and putting AI to work in new areas of your business. The more you’re ready to adjust to the results you’re getting and to repeat your experiments, the more value you’ll unlock.
“AI can help free up time for experienced professionals,” says Shevaun Haviland at the BCC. “Liberated from some of the more mundane and process-driven tasks on their to-do lists, they can spend time upskilling themselves and, also, mentoring those younger professionals coming through.”
6. Encourage everyone in the business to start using AI
You’ll also multiply the benefits of AI if you can get colleagues to start using the technology. You may need to provide some basic AI literacy training, but SMBs often find that staff get to grips with new tools very quickly. While AI may feel technically daunting, BGF’s research suggests few businesses have significant problems here.
“Many SMBs feel they have the people and skills required to embrace AI technology,” says Simon Steward, head of digital at BGF. “I think this is down to the intuitive nature of AI tools – how naturally they integrate with current systems and how easily end users can interact with them.”
One good way to get everyone comfortable with AI adoption is to give employees access to basic tools that make it easier to do their jobs. AI can be like an intern who is always ready to help with simple tasks.
7. Measure success and use the results to scale up AI activity
Finally, make sure you’re measuring the returns you’re getting on your investments in AI. This will ensure you’re getting good value but also give you the confidence to go further with technology.
Focus on key performance indicators (KPIs) that relate to the particular business use you’re prioritising – that could be greater productivity, financial gains, improved accuracy or enhanced customer satisfaction, for example.
The bottom line is that AI should save you time and money. Research from the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council found the average SMB owner who had invested in AI enjoyed weekly savings of 13 employee hours and 13 hours of their own time. “93% of small business owners agree that AI tools offer cost-effective solutions that drive savings and improve profitability,” says Karen Kerrigan, CEO of the SBEC.
For information about Sage’s AI commitments, which outline its standards in AI and data ethics, ensuring customers’ data integrity, visit Sage Ai.
