A survey shows that small businesses that use AI hire new workers when sales increase. Here’s how to get started.
getty
A quartet of witnesses testifying before the House Small Business Committee this week disputed the widely held belief that artificial intelligence will displace human workers and insisted that small businesses that use AI will likely end up having to hire more employees — because they will grow.
The majority of small businesses are already using AI for a variety of purposes, said Jordan Crenshaw, senior vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Technology Engagement Center. Last year, 58% of small businesses nationwide reported using generative artificial intelligence, rising from 40% in 2024 to 23% in 2023, he told lawmakers. But the real kicker, he added, is that 82% of small businesses that reported using AI increased their headcount in the past year. “These companies are not using AI to replace people,” Crenshaw said. “They use it to help employees focus on high-quality work that requires judgment, creativity and relationships.”
So what is the best way for a small business to use AI?
- Focus on who you are not If we do that now, it could increase sales. “So many small businesses don’t have a website,” noted Chike Aguh, director of innovation and strategy at the Kapor Center, which promotes inclusivity in the tech industry. “So many small businesses don’t advertise at all because they can’t hire a designer. AI can make these things possible.” It’s not just about a website, it’s about a mindset. “Small businesses need to think about, ‘What’s not happening in my business that AI can help accomplish,’ not ‘What’s happening now that could possibly be done by someone else?'” Aguh told lawmakers.
- Start with something that needs fixing. “I always advise companies to start with the problem that is most pressing. What concerns them every day? That’s the starting point,” said France Hoang, founder and CEO of AI company BoodleBox, which creates online spaces where teams in education, law or business can use AI tools safely and collaboratively. He cited the owner of a small coffee company in Detroit, Tekeyah Gaines, who he said has used AI to more accurately price her products and also to strengthen her marketing presence. The result, Hoang said, was that Gaines’ average orders increased from $38 to $47.
- Invest in training employees on Al and listen to their ideas. Instead of replacing workers with AI, Aguh said, companies should invest in training their workforce to use new AI tools and even advise their employees on how and where to use AI.
- Think of AI as a force multiplier. “AI is a force multiplier that helps small businesses achieve more with limited time, staff and resources,” Crenshaw said. For example, he said: “A retailer can use AI to understand demand and personalize marketing.” A restaurant can improve scheduling and inventory. A professional services company can automate routine creation and research. A manufacturer can reduce waste and improve operations.”
- Make your back office more efficient. Aguh said small businesses are already finding AI useful for back-office tasks such as bookkeeping, tax payments, bookkeeping, and marketing and sales lead generation.
- Use AI to simplify onboarding and training new employees. Anthony Qaiyum, the owner of Chicago-based Merz Apothecary, told committee members that he recently used AI voice transcription and writing tools to create a multi-month onboarding program for a new employee. “She later told me it was the clearest roadmap she had ever received for starting a new job,” he said.
- Make sure you choose the right AI tool for the job. There is now a large selection of AI models with different strengths and weaknesses that are available online at low or no cost. It is important for users to learn which models are best suited to the task the AI is intended to perform. “It’s tempting to think that everything is a nail and that it’s accessible to the AI hammer,” Aguh said. “It’s so important to help these small business leaders pick just the hammer to the right nail. It could be Claude, it could be ChatGPT.”
- Find a safe AI system you can trust. The more openly a business owner can talk about internal finances and sensitive data with an AI system, the more useful AI models can be for businesses. Therefore, it is important to find an AI system that the business owner believes is safe. “AI is only as good as the information you put into it, the context. A lot of companies are afraid to put their proprietary data in. That’s unfortunate because that’s how you get the best results with AI,” Hoang said. “Find a platform where you feel privacy and security allow you to use your data.”
- Look for AI accelerators, trainers and government-funded training. The experts agreed that more AI skills programs will be needed to adequately teach entrepreneurs how to best leverage new models, noting that some such resources are already available, such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business Basics program. “For those of us who are athletes at any point in our lives, you didn’t read a book about how to do a jump shot or throw a football. You did it on the field with a coach,” Aguh said. “AI ironically shows the need for more work on the ground, in the workplace…The teaching is good. The real-life experience is better.”
- Consider paying for AI if necessary. There have been so many advances and competition in AI in recent years that there are a plethora of tools available online for free. However, some of the more advanced and valuable tools still come at a price. Depending on the job, it may be worth paying for it. “Simple AI is cheap and everywhere,” Hoang said. “Premium AI that delivers real results still costs money, and a new divide is emerging between Wall Street and Main Street.”
Qaiyum also told lawmakers that he has increased his workforce by 20%, from 50 to 60, since his company began using AI more. “We look at (AI) as a set of tools to help us increase our capacity and then hire more people,” Qaiyum said. “We are currently building an AI agent that handles routine accounts payable work that takes an employee more than 20 hours per week, hours that we would rather help with strategic problems to grow our business.”
According to Qaiyum, Merz Apothecary – which sells health, beauty and personal care products – also relies on AI tools to analyze cash flows, track inventory, keep track of investments, record expenses, manage payroll and look out for potential financial risks.
“And we’re still hiring,” Qaiyum said. “We are now at the point where we would like to hire someone who has more experience (with AI) because we see so many opportunities in front of us.” Qaiyum repeatedly emphasized that AI is a new technological advantage, while “humans are the permanent advantage to have.”
Crenshaw also warned that if Congress takes no action to regulate AI and leaves the matter to states, small businesses would suffer, resulting in a costly national “patchwork” of business rules that smaller companies would find difficult to manage.
He cited a study by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (a nonprofit think tank that receives much of its support from the tech sector and other large companies). It concluded that without national AI privacy rules, it will cost the country about $1 trillion over the next decade, with $200 billion of that falling to small businesses. He also highlighted a relatively new California state law, the California Consumer Privacy Act, which was subject to AI regulation after its enactment in 2020; Crenshaw said compliance with the AI portion of the law will cost small businesses an estimated $16,000 annually.
The bottom line, experts told lawmakers, is that AI is not capable of replacing truly human skills, but rather is intended to give workers new tools to make them more efficient, productive and skilled. The four called on Congress to authorize more funding for AI skills training for businesses and workers and to establish a national regulatory framework for AI models to guide them, rather than the current state-by-state regulatory patchwork that evolves without federal AI rules.
Although the committee did not take up any specific bills or proposals Tuesday, several House members said they believe it is important for Congress to adopt some sort of national regulatory framework for AI and technology companies and to fund AI skills programs through the Small Business Administration.
“Our goal is to give every small business and every entrepreneur the opportunity to succeed in the emerging age of AI,” said committee Chairman Roger Williams, a Republican from Texas, at the start of Tuesday’s hearing.
Would you like to be more successful? Subscribe Visit the weekly Forbes Careers newsletter for insider tips and insights.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnschroyer/2026/07/16/10-ways-small-businesses-can-use-ai-to-grow-and-even-hire-more-workers/
