It’s easy to believe that adding AI will instantly transform a business. But reality paints a different picture.
A recent Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) study * discovered that roughly 95% of enterprise generative-AI pilot projects deliver little or no measurable profit-and-loss impact. Although this research isn’t SMB-specific, it underscores a universal truth: the technology isn’t typically the main barrier—people, process, and scope are.
Many SMBs assume: “Let’s plug in an AI tool, and we’ll be better.” But in truth, AI is not a plug-and-play miracle — it’s an amplifier. If you already have broken or undocumented workflows, throwing AI at them simply makes the broken faster.
Source: https://fortune.com/2025/08/18/mit-report-95-percent-generative-ai-pilots-at-companies-failing-cfo/
Start with the right business process
“AI accelerates a process. If you don’t know your process, you’re wasting your time.”
Begin by asking: Which specific business process will AI enhance? Then be rigorous and ask: Where does it start, where does it end? What is the baseline today? What are the expected outcomes?
- Choose a process with clear inputs, outputs, data flows, and human touch-points.
- Set measurable metrics: e.g., manual hours now, error rate, cost, throughput.
- Define what success looks like in a short time frame (e.g., “reduce manual effort by 30% in 90 days”).
If you skip this scoping, you risk replacing a bad workflow with a faster bad workflow.
People & process — the unsung heroes
It’s tempting to frame AI as “tech solves everything” — but the truth: people and process drive success. Yes, this old anthem from Tech Consulting still applies. The MIT report* emphasises integration, workflow alignment, and role clarity as key failure points.
For SMBs, that means:
- Document your current process. Who handles what? When? With what tools?
- Define how the human role changes: what will staff do once AI handles X?
- Provide training: staff need to understand how the AI serves them, when they intervene, and how they escalate or validate.
- Set up governance: who monitors outputs, handles exceptions, corrects model errors, updates rules?Without this, adoption stumbles — and users bypass or ignore the new tool.
Source: https://hbr.org/2025/08/beware-the-ai-experimentation-trap?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Choose the right tool and strategy
You don’t need to build a full custom AI stack overnight. For SMBs, practical is better:
- Look for SaaS‐AI tools that integrate with your existing stack (CRM, ERP, support).
- Ensure the tool suits the process you mapped; avoid one‐size‐fits‐all hype solutions.
- Prioritise vendor/partner support or pre-built domain workflows if possible (studies show external vendors often deliver higher success rates than heavy internal builds). Trullion+1
- Define ROI: how will time saved, error reduction, throughput increase translate into value for your business?
Start small, get real results, then look at the horizon !
Show results — then scale
Pilots matter. But only if you measure. Here’s your roadmap:
1. Baseline your current process (hours, errors, cost)
2. Run a focused pilot (one process, one team, defined scope)
3. After the pilot period (e.g., 2-3 months) measure: Did we save time? Did accuracy improve? Did freed-up human time get reinvested?
4. Review: If yes, scale; if no, ask: Was our process unclear? Did people adopt it? Did tool integrate?
5. Expand only when humans + process + technology are aligned.
Remember: many organisations get stuck in “pilot purgatory” — dozens of pilots launched, few scaled — because they skipped one of these steps.
Summary recipe for SMB success
“Scaling isn’t just about hiring—it’s about structure, tools, and leadership.”
Business Process + People + Tech = AI success.
- Pick one high-impact process.
- Map it end-to-end.
- Set clear metrics.
- Choose a realistic tool that integrates.
- Train your team and define roles.
- Pilot, measure, review, scale.
If you neglect any of these elements, you’ll likely see the same outcome as many of the 95%: high cost, low return, and frustrated teams. We will soon be releasing a Checklist to gear up for your first successful AI agent implementation. Stay tuned by subscribing to your newsletter !
A Smart First Project: Outreach or Customer Service
“Scaling isn’t just about hiring—it’s about structure, tools, and leadership.”
If you’re unsure where to start, two areas consistently deliver high ROI fast: outbound sales outreach and customer service. Both rely on repetitive, clearly-bounded workflows, with large volumes of written communication: perfect for AI to accelerate.
Automating triage, drafting responses, research, or qualification can free your team to focus on closing deals and resolving the complex issues that drive loyalty. Curious what that could look like for your business? Learn more about improving these specific processes with AI here