Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about the conversation around AI for business. It seems like we’re always hearing the same narratives—either it’s a miracle cure for all business woes, or it’s a terrifying threat to jobs. But what if the truth is far more interesting than either of those extremes?
From where I’m sitting, it looks like something quite different is happening. Many business leaders aren’t using AI to replace their teams, but rather to give them a brand-new operating system. It’s not about automation as a replacement; it’s about automation as an amplification tool for the talent you already have.
What’s fascinating to me is how rapidly this is all moving. A recent survey from Thryv suggests that AI adoption among small and medium-sized businesses jumped from 39% to 55% in just one year.¹ That kind of growth is worth paying attention to. It signals a shift in mindset, from curiosity to active implementation. People aren’t just thinking about this anymore; they’re acting on it, and it’s enabling them to free their teams from administrative work so they can focus on the high-value, strategic tasks that truly move the needle.
In fact, a study by McKinsey & Company provides some compelling data on this, suggesting that generative AI has the potential to automate work activities that take up 60-70% of an employee’s time today.² The real question, it seems, isn’t whether your business will use AI, but how it will be used to make your team more effective and more resilient.
Here are three areas where I find this most interesting:
1. Predictive AI as a Strategic Compass
For a long time, the data we collected in business was historical—a record of where we’d been. It’s fascinating to note how predictive AI is changing this. It can now analyze that same data to forecast market shifts and anticipate customer needs with a level of precision that used to require a full-time analytics team.
You can see this in tools like Google Analytics’ predictive metrics (https://analytics.google.com/analytics/web/), Microsoft Power BI (https://powerbi.microsoft.com), or Zoho Analytics (https://www.zoho.com/analytics/), which provide powerful forecasting capabilities to even the smallest teams.
This is powerful, but it’s important to be aware of the trade-offs. While AI provides incredible insights, it can’t fully replace human intuition and creative decision-making. The most successful business leaders are the ones who will use AI to inform their decisions, not to make them for them.
2. AI as an In-House Consultant
Gaining strategic guidance often comes with a hefty price tag. It’s worth noting that a new generation of generative AI tools can act as an accessible, in-house consultant for your team. They can process internal data and study market trends to provide step-by-step, data-backed growth plans.
Tools like Jasper (https://www.jasper.ai/) can help generate content and marketing ideas based on your brand’s style, while platforms like Brandwatch (https://www.brandwatch.com/) analyze extensive social media data to help your team find market trends. This is a huge shift in access to information. It’s no wonder that a survey found that 66% of small businesses using AI save up to $2,000 per month³—a resource that can now be reinvested into developing your team’s creative and strategic skills. Of course, it’s always crucial to remember that a machine’s recommendation needs a human’s judgment to be truly effective.
3. AI-Generated Code and Team Empowerment
I find it truly remarkable that a major barrier to innovation—a lack of technical expertise—is now being actively addressed by AI. These tools are helping teams with great ideas build custom applications and automate processes without needing to write a single line of code.
You can see this with platforms like Airtable’s AI automation (https://www.airtable.com/ai) and Zapier (https://zapier.com/ai), which allow you to create powerful workflows by simply connecting your existing apps. Similarly, Microsoft Power Apps (https://powerapps.microsoft.com) helps your team build custom business applications with a simple drag-and-drop interface.
While this is incredibly empowering, it also comes with a need for oversight. A team member can now create something custom in a fraction of the time, but as a leader, you’ll still need to ensure the quality and security of the output. The responsibility shifts from creating to guiding and verifying.
The way I see it, this isn’t about AI taking over. It’s about AI providing us with a set of tools to do our jobs better, faster, and with more impact. The most powerful combination isn’t one or the other; it’s both. The goal isn’t an automated business—it’s an amplified one, where your team’s creativity and expertise are unlocked by technology.
Sources
- Thryv. “Small Business AI Adoption Surges 41% As Usage Jumps From 39% To 55% In 2025.” A survey of 540 small business decision-makers between May 4 and May 14, 2025.
- McKinsey & Company. “The Economic Potential of Generative AI: The Next Productivity Frontier.” A report from June 14, 2023, which analyzes the impact of generative AI on work and productivity, estimating that current technology can automate work activities that absorb 60-70% of employee time.
- Thryv. “Small Business AI Adoption surges 41% As Usage Jumps From 39% To 55% In 2025.” This same report also found that 66% of current AI users save between $500 and $2,000 per month by using the technology.
