{"id":1918,"date":"2017-07-21T19:58:48","date_gmt":"2017-07-21T23:58:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/?p=1918"},"modified":"2026-02-16T06:07:31","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T11:07:31","slug":"ai-every-small-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/ai-every-small-business\/","title":{"rendered":"AI for every small business"},"content":{"rendered":"<header class=\"entry-header has-dark-background-color entry-header--has-illustration entry-header--has-illustration--generic\">\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-header__row row align-center\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col col-lg-7 col-xlg-6 entry-header__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"component component-single-header\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-header__misc text--subtitle text--uppercase text--small\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/category\/money-matters\/\" class=\"entry-header__link\">Money Matters<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-title-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"entry-title\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\tAI for every small business\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"entry-header__description\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"single-post-details container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"col\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"posted-on \"><time class=\"entry-date published\" datetime=\"2017-07-21T19:58:48-04:00\">July 21, 2017<\/time><\/span><span class=\"reading-time\"> min read<\/span>\n\t\t<button\n\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\tclass=\"social-share-button button button--icon button--secondary js-social-share-button\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-title=\"AI for every small business\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-url=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/ai-every-small-business\/\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-text=\"Please read this interesting article\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__share-label\">Share<\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__copy-label\" hidden>Copy Link<\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__copy-tooltip\" aria-hidden=\"true\" hidden>Copied<\/span>\n\t\t<\/button>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/header>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-author has-dark-background-color alignfull\">\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"col\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"co-authors\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-author-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<a class=\"entry-author\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/author\/flannerykeck\/\">\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"40\" height=\"40\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/04\/KeckFlannery_headshot-350x350.jpg\" class=\"entry-author__image\" alt=\"Flannery Keck\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/04\/KeckFlannery_headshot-350x350.jpg 350w, https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/04\/KeckFlannery_headshot.jpg 372w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 40px) 100vw, 40px\" \/>\t\t\t\t<span class=\"entry-author__name\">Flannery Keck<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sage-block-classic-wrapper\">\n\n<p>Odds are, robots probably aren\u2019t going to steal your job\u2014in fact, they could actually <em>help<\/em> your job, especially if you\u00a0work in a small business. Artificial intelligence (AI), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/ces-2018-how-chatbots-and-ai-can-automate-your-processes-for-powerful-results\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">bots<\/a> and other cutting-edge technology can support a wide range of businesses. We caught up with Alex Fawcett, Sage\u2019s Principal Architect of Mobile and Bots, to find out about the benefits of AI and how small businesses can take advantage of them.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Save time, make better decisions<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The most immediate benefit of AI is that it will offer businesses new tools to work smarter. \u201cThere will be less time entering data and more time getting valuable intelligence and insight from the services used,\u201d Alex explained. \u201cAI can be used to augment decision making,\u201d which includes everything from choosing which products to feature on your website to where to spend your advertising dollars. \u201cThere is a huge amount of data out there waiting to be acted on, and AI will help guide businesses on how to act.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><strong>No experience necessary<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>You might be reading this thinking, \u201cThat all sounds great, but I don\u2019t have the technical knowledge to take advantage of this stuff.\u201d Well, never fear\u2014you\u2019re not the only one. \u201cThere are lots of great tools out there,\u201d Alex said. \u201cLook to tools like Chatfuel, which is a really cool bot builder that links with Facebook and requires no code. You can build a bot and use AI to answer questions your customers may have. We\u2019ve worked with companies that have had some amazing bots up and running within hours, including a great bot that allowed delivery orders for a bakery to be ordered!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And if you are a little more tech savvy (read: have some coding skills), there are even more options open to you. \u201cAll of the big tech companies are releasing AI-powered services that do a huge variety of things. From analyzing video, photo, and sound to building smart services that can answer customers\u2019 questions. While no knowledge of how AI or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/glossary\/what-is-machine-learning\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">machine learning<\/a> works is needed for these services, some coding is often required to get them working with existing apps,\u201d Alex said.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>A healthier bottom line<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Perhaps the most persuasive argument for adopting AI in your small business is that it can positively impact your bottom line.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;We\u2019ll see increased automation of manual tasks and processes, freeing up time to focus on creativity and dealing with customers. We\u2019ll also see prices of suppliers and services drop for small businesses. AI will reduce the cost of running small businesses by taking the burden off many staff, freeing up their time and reducing costs.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"single-cta\">\n\t<div class=\"single-cta__positioner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__wrapper has-dark-background-color\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"single-cta__title h3\">Subscribe to our Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__description\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Get our latest business advice delivered directly to your inbox.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"#gate-ab515c6e-7e90-4c2f-a67e-113872516e8b\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"single-cta__button button button--primary\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t>Subscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1440\" height=\"810\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1073797282-1440x810.jpg\" class=\"single-cta__image\" alt=\"Working from home with tea in hand\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1073797282-1440x810.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 48em) 33vw, 100vw\" \/>\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Odds are, robots probably aren\u2019t going to steal your job\u2014in fact, they could actually help your job, especially if you\u00a0work in a small business. Artificial intelligence (AI), bots and other cutting-edge technology can support a wide range of businesses. We caught up with Alex Fawcett, Sage\u2019s Principal Architect of Mobile and Bots, to find out [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":101,"featured_media":3283,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sage_video":false,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[145,154],"business_type":[40],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[204],"persona":[96,97],"imagine_tag":[230],"coauthors":[656],"class_list":["post-1918","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-money-matters","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-technology","business_type-small-business","industry-technology"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-us","author_name":"Flannery Keck","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/01\/techtools.jpg","imagine_tags":{"230":"Small business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice US","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1918","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/101"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1918"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1918\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/3283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1918"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=1918"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=1918"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=1918"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=1918"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=1918"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=1918"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}