top of page
Search

AI Finds usage soars in Small Business: 64% of SMBs Already Using or Testing Tools, Says Homebase

  • Writer: Niv Nissenson
    Niv Nissenson
  • Jul 24
  • 2 min read

A new survey by team management platform Homebase reveals that artificial intelligence is rapidly gaining traction among small businesses in the U.S. — and it’s not just hype. Nearly two-thirds (64%) of SMBs report already using or piloting AI tools, and among them, over 94% say AI is valuable to their operations. The momentum is especially strong in industries with complex scheduling and staffing demands, like construction, retail, and food service.


The survey, which included 828 U.S. decision-makers at small businesses with under 200 employees, paints a clear picture: AI is no longer the domain of tech giants or early adopters — it’s becoming a practical, everyday tool for the nation's smallest employers.


Key Findings:

  • 64% of SMBs are already using or piloting AI

  • 42.8% say AI is “extremely valuable” to their operations

  • 68.5% of non-users are curious and open to exploring AI tools

  • 70.5% are familiar with agentic AI — tools that act on the user’s behalf

  • Data privacy (61.2%) and error concerns (46.9%) are the top reasons for hesitation


ree

“Small businesses are adopting AI fast because they’re seeing real, day-to-day impact,” said John Waldmann, CEO and co-founder of Homebase. “We saw more than 10,000 businesses use our AI-powered assistants just weeks after launch.”


Homebase’s own AI push includes Hiring and Scheduling Assistants, launched last month, which aim to automate two of the most time-consuming administrative tasks for hourly workforce managers. The move is part of a larger trend of agentic AI tools making their way into practical, job-specific workflows — especially for businesses strapped for time and resources.


The Homebase findings align with another recent survey from Thryv, which paints a similar picture of fast-growing but pragmatic AI use among small businesses:

  • 63% of current users apply AI daily — mostly for data analysis (62%), content generation (55%), and customer engagement tools (46%)

  • Interestingly in the Thryv survey only 14% of respondents thought AI can replace an employee while 67% felt that AI tools were reducing workload.


The message is clear: AI is becoming useful, not just interesting. But let’s not mistake this for deep integration. The majority of small business AI use remains pedestrian — AI is helping people do their work faster, not automating the work itself. That’s still a critical distinction.


Where things get tricky is trust. Fear of errors — cited by nearly half of non-adopters in Homebase’s survey — isn’t just about technical bugs. It ties directly into broader concerns like AI hallucinations, data privacy, and messy internal data that lacks structure or quality. We’ve covered these issues and they represent barriers for SMBs looking to go beyond surface-level tools.


bottom of page