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Q&A: AI is Big Business… Can Small Businesses Compete?

Implementing AI used to require sophisticated programming that most small businesses couldn’t afford and couldn’t easily understand.

OpenAI was founded in 2015 and is led by Sam Altman
OpenAI was founded in 2015 and is led by Sam Altman. - © AFP Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV
OpenAI was founded in 2015 and is led by Sam Altman. - © AFP Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV

Year after year, small businesses are challenged to apply new technologies to keep up with their competitors – both large and small. In no area is this more relevant today than in the application of artificial intelligence. According to a new analysis released by the U.S. Census Bureau in December 2024, while the largest enterprises have clearly led the way, even the smallest businesses (with one to four employees) have increasingly been using AI tools at relatively high rates.

Implementing AI used to require sophisticated programming that most small businesses couldn’t afford and couldn’t easily understand.  That has changed dramatically over the past two years. AI is now more accessible than ever before. To discuss how small businesses can take advantage of this technology application in 2025,  Digital Journal sat down with Pam Cronin, owner of Pam Ann Marketing, who consults with small businesses regarding their understanding and adoption of AI technologies. 

Digital Journal: What led to such a dramatic increase in AI accessibility?  

Pam Cronin: In November of 2022, OpenAI released ChatGPT, which would become the pivot point for making AI accessible to small businesses. Initially, early adopters were mostly limited to the “techy” types, but now the awareness of not only the existence of ChatGPT but also its ease of use has drawn the attention of small business owners. 

As a digital marketing agency owner, I get to speak to a wide variety of business owners. In 2023, I don’t recall any of them mentioning AI or ChatGPT. But this year, just about all of my clients have mentioned it in one way or another. The current level of AI awareness among small business owners is palpable. 

DJ: How are small businesses currently using AI?

Cronin: Despite near-total awareness of AI, adoption levels vary. Only a few of my clients have incorporated ChatGPT or similar AI tools into their business operations. 

The most common use case I see is small businesses using these tools to help with marketing tasks such as drafting social media posts, coming up with ideas for content marketing, and planning and/or writing website content. (Though, as an SEO consultant, I need to constantly discourage them from publishing content fully written by AI as that will not serve their search engine optimization goals well). 

OpenAI, the firm behind ChatGPT, denied Elon Musk's accusations of "betrayal" of its original mission
OpenAI, the firm behind ChatGPT, denied Elon Musk’s accusations of “betrayal” of its original mission – Copyright AFP Drew Angerer

DJ: What else should small business owners be using AI for?

Cronin: Everything! In addition to marketing, AI can greatly help streamline tasks related to accounting, operations, project management, customer service, and more. Essentially, any process that is fairly simple yet time-consuming should be considered as a use case for AI. 

DJ: How does the implementation process work?

Cronin: Interestingly, many of the things that people perceive as “AI” are actually automation. Automation tools like Make.com and Zapier enable things to happen “automagically” even without AI. 

I’ve been using Zapier to automate portions of my business for ten years now (since 2014), creating automations for anything that requires tedious tasks. For example, my most complex and effective automation is for client onboarding. Taking on a new client requires setup tasks in about seven different places – Quickbooks for billing, Teamwork for project management, Slack for project communications, Google Drive for file storage, etc. This used to take 1 to 2 hours to do manually, but now happens automatically with no human interaction at all.

Although this automation does not use AI, when tasks complete themselves without a single mouse click, it’s easy to see why people perceive it as an “artificial” person doing the work. This perception is actually becoming more accurate as automation platforms like Zapier are adding AI tools, and AI tools are adding automation “agents” to perform tasks for users. 

Essentially, these two worlds are colliding and becoming one: AI-powered automation. This is what small business owners should be thinking about implementing in 2025.

DJ: What AI tools do you expect to become popular in 2025?

Cronin: For AI-powered automation, Zapier and Make.com will continue to increase in popularity as they incorporate more AI tool integrations and solidify themselves as the most accessible way for small businesses to implement AI in 2025. 

However, what will really upend the AI world in 2025 is AI agents. “Agentic AI” is a term with search volume that is skyrocketing month over month right now. 

Automation platforms, even when integrated with AI tools, do not incorporate any decision-making other than basic “if this, then that” filters that select one routine over another. An AI “agent” can make decisions and act autonomously, which goes far beyond the abilities of AI-powered automation. 

Right now, agentic AIs are mostly custom-coded, which is not accessible for small businesses, but 2025 will be the year that user-friendly agentic AI platforms hit the market. 

Anthropic, the company behind the popular Claude AI chatbot, already released an agentic AI feature they call “Computer Use” which can control a computer to complete tasks in the same way a human does. OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, will be launching their agentic AI product called “Operator” early in 2025, and of course – Google, Microsoft, and others won’t be far behind with their own versions as well. 

DJ: Will AI and automation replace employees?

Cronin: Not for small businesses. Unlike enterprise-level corporations, where a single person might be employed only to handle tedious tasks, small business employees wear many hats and have responsibilities requiring human brainpower and interaction. 

Small business owners should view AI and automation not as employee replacement, but as employee enhancement. When used to relieve talented employees of tedious tasks, the business owner gets better results, employees get to spend more time on work they love, and the company becomes stronger and more effective.

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Written By

Dr. Tim Sandle is Digital Journal's Editor-at-Large for science news. Tim specializes in science, technology, environmental, business, and health journalism. He is additionally a practising microbiologist; and an author. He is also interested in history, politics and current affairs.

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