Why Small Businesses Must Not Get Left Behind In The AI Boom
CAMILLE STEWART GLOSTER, AFUA BRUCE / MAY 9, 2025
Published in Tech Policy Press
Global efforts to govern the future of artificial intelligence are at a critical juncture. This year alone, places like Paris, Kigali, San Francisco, and many others have held broad convenings to align governments, industry, and civil society on AI policy actions that advance shared prosperity and safety.
And with many of the world's countries holding elections in 2024, new global governance policies regarding AI development and use are emerging.
While these shifts promise innovation, they also threaten to reset what progress has been made in answering critical questions about who AI will hurt and who it will benefit. As these governance discussions pick up, small businesses in particular cannot be overlooked.
Conventional wisdom typically advises small businesses to adopt AI to enhance their efficiency and stay competitive. Yet adoption must be made with particular attention to security, privacy, and safety of the technology, especially in a landscape where new innovations like DeepSeek offer affordability but not a lot of security and arguably little-to-no privacy.
AI tools, when developed and deployed well, can help small businesses manage everything from inventory to customer interactions to product development to content creation. However, the learning curve is steep and the cost to onboard knowledgeable talent is significant when already investing in new or expanded technological capabilities. Without responsible AI adoption — with safety and security as top priorities —- small businesses may not be able to protect their intellectual property, their consumers, or their competitive advantage.
Large companies, especially leading AI providers and investors, must consider dedicating resources to train and support small businesses in responsibly adopting AI and public interest AI essential parts of their own AI strategy. Small businesses creating and onboarding AI systems that are secure-by-default, secure-by-design, free of bias, and privacy-preserving is an essential part of a risk mitigation strategy.
Small businesses are foundational to global economies and are often considered the heart of innovation due to their agility, creativity, and ability to address niche markets. Micro, small and medium-size enterprises (MSMEs) account for 90 percent of all businesses, 60 to 70 percent of employment, and 50 percent of GDP worldwide, according to the United Nations.
Small and medium businesses are important parts of our cybersecurity supply chains, too — a threat to their security and resilience is a threat to the ecosystem at large. Equally as important, small businesses and startups have historically been pivotal in driving technological breakthroughs, reshaping industries, and creating economic opportunity for everyone.
