How government and businesses can partner to drive small business adoption of AI

Enterprise Nation held a roundtable in Westminster attended by AI minister Feryal Clark, Kanishka Narayan MP, executives from leading technology companies, and small business leaders to discuss how to drive SMEs' adoption of artificial intelligence through a partnership between government and businesses.

The event was organised as part of the Enterprise Nation Tech Hub.

The attendees were:

• Feryal Clark MP, AI and digital government minister

• Kanishka Narayan MP

• Emma Jones, founder, Enterprise Nation

• Samina Hussain-Letch, head of industry relations and payment partnerships, Square

• Iana Vidal, head of UK public policy, Block

• Madeleine Hale, head of government affairs (UK&I), Dell Technologies

• Brian Horsborough, UK small business country manager, Dell Technologies

• Des O'Connor, GenAI Solutions and strategy lead, Dell Technologies

• Chantelle Devilliers, director of public affairs, Sage

• Ben Aung, EVP chief risk officer, Sage

• Dan Menezes Melo, people operations manager, Grind

• Paul Crabtree, managing director, Velo

• Jayke Mangion, founder, Brickwood Coffee & Bread

• Rhett Buttle, founder, Public Private Strategies and Public Private Strategies Institute

Read on for a summary of what was discussed at the roundtable.

The government view

AI minister Feryal Clark said artificial intelligence and how the UK can make the most of it is a key focus of the government.

The minister highlighted data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which found that fully adopting AI could contribute £47 billion to the UK economy every year for the next decade.

The benefits include productivity increases and cost savings for businesses, as well as impacting people's lives such as spotting cancer earlier, improving education in schools, fighting climate change and tackling potholes.

The minister said the government's focus is improving public services and driving efficiencies as well as deploying the benefits of AI across the private sector. To do this, the prime minister has launched the AI Opportunities Plan to harness all the opportunities that AI presents.

The minister stressed that SMEs have a huge role to play as a key driver of the UK economy. She said data shows they face more barriers to adoption of AI than larger companies, so a focus of the government is working with the private sector to remove those barriers.

Measures will be announced in the government's new industrial strategy and the recommendations from the technology adoption review led by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

The minister stressed the need to look at best practice for supporting SMEs, both in government such as the cyber security advice programme Cyber Essentials, and how the private sector helps small businesses adopt new technology through initiatives such as Enterprise Nation's Tech Hub.

The role of Tech Hub

Emma Jones explained how Enterprise Nation's Tech Hub was set up to tackle the UK's challenge of encouraging significantly more small businesses to adopt new technologies to improve efficiencies, boost productivity and make more sales.

With the support of partners including Dell, Sage, Square and Google, Tech Hub connects thousands of small businesses to digital tools and training. It provides a one-stop shop solution to help small businesses adopt the technology they need to run and grow their ventures.

Emma also said the UK should use AI to deliver better business support and take advantage of open finance so support providers can step in and provide timely and appropriate support at key points in a business owner's journey such as when they are hiring or when they begin exporting their products or services.

The small business view

The small business leaders attending the roundtable agreed that AI brings many benefits to small businesses.

One business owner said despite his limited knowledge of technology, low-cost AI tools have given him instant access to useful information by treating them like a mentor or board of advisers. Operating on a limited budget, AI technology has provided him with quality outputs including copywriting, graphic design and crafting job descriptions.

There are challenges though. One small business leader said there's a reluctance among some members of his team to use AI due to fears of not understanding how it works or a stigma around being seen as cheating if they use AI tools in their job. He said more case studies and training on AI would be useful to communicate the value and benefits to employees.

With so many AI tools available to small businesses, attendees said it can be hard to know which ones to use and which ones are safe. Small business leaders suggested the government and private sector could work together on a kitemark scheme to help businesses select the most appropriate tools for them.

One attendee raised the issue that the rise of AI could widen the gap between access to technology of businesses in urban and rural areas. Small businesses in more rural locations often struggle to benefit from the latest technology so he said the government should work on ensuring all businesses can take advantage of AI.

The technology providers' view

The technology companies attending the event said they are seeing thousands of small businesses take advantage of AI features, such as generating and sending invoices, creating menus, and analysing cashflow data.

The technology companies agreed that there are many more small businesses who could benefit from AI though, with cost and skills a barrier to them adopting the tools. Providers said they are committed to playing a role in ensuring small business owners are not confused by the hype around AI and that technology is made more accessible to more businesses.

AI shouldn't be so complicated that it actually creates more work for business owners, one attendee said. He commented that when AI is done right, business owners don't know they are using it because it is just a feature of a tool they use regularly and provides consistent benefits.

The technology companies welcomed the government's focus on AI and the willingness to work with the private sector on ensuring the UK's millions of small and medium businesses benefit from the technology and boost the overall economy.

About Tech Hub

A collaboration between Google, and Sage and built by Enterprise Nation, Tech Hub offers an accessible solution to support small businesses to adopt the technology they need to run and grow their ventures. Visit Tech Hub.