Report: 89% of small businesses using AI report positive impacts

AI’s impact is making its way to small businesses, and the reported impact is positive.

According to new data from Homebase, an AI-powered operator for small businesses, 89% of small businesses using AI report a positive impact. Small business owners are also more than two times as likely to expect AI to help their business grow (49%) rather than have it reduce head count (22%). The report shows that small businesses have been swift at adopting AI:

• Nearly three-quarters (74%) of surveyed small businesses are using or piloting AI tools, which is up from 64% in 2025.
• AI usage ranges from 54% among businesses making under $500,000 in revenue to 81% among businesses earning more than $5 million.
• Businesses using AI for scheduling and payroll see an estimated 7.7 hours and $343 saved a month.

“When local businesses have a scheduling mix-up or a payroll error, their time and money go out the door. Both are real costs to small businesses,” said John Waldmann, founder and CEO of Homebase, in a press release. “Over one in 10 small business decision-makers we surveyed said these errors cost them $2,000 or more a month.”

Mind the gap: Homebase sees a distrust of AI technologies as one gap, with 62% of nonadopters saying they’re interested in AI, but are concerned about privacy (38%) and mistakes (31%).

This distrust is nothing new, as previous reports have indicated hesitations across industries and employees of all ages adopting AI. According to a Gong report, some ways to address the lack of trust are explainability, the ability to articulate AI model guardrails to protect data, security guarantees built into solutions, and transparent model logic.