AI: Does It Level the Playing Field – or Widen the Gaps?
Four Truths Small Businesses Need to Understand
AI is often described as the great equaliser: the technology that enables small companies to compete with large enterprises. And to some extent, that’s true. But the reality is more complex than the headlines suggest.
New data and research indicate that AI does not automatically become a shortcut to higher profitability, faster growth, or stronger competitiveness for smaller players. For many organisations, the opposite may be true—especially if AI is adopted without the right prerequisites, focus, and priorities.
Here are four truths worth keeping in mind if you’re a small business owner (or a leader in a smaller organisation) navigating the AI landscape.
1) The Current AI Boom Often Benefits the Giants
A counterintuitive insight is that AI currently tends to deliver the largest productivity gains in large organisations. Not because the tools are unavailable to others—but because larger companies often possess three critical capabilities that determine whether technology turns into real impact:
Expertise (knowing what to do, and in what order)
Capital (the ability to experiment, build, and integrate)
Organisational capacity (to change ways of working, processes, and responsibilities)
Swedish research points to the same mechanism: companies that already have resources find it easier to translate AI into productivity gains—and they also tend to invest more and reap greater returns. The result is a self-reinforcing loop where the gap between small and large companies risks widening.
What this means for small businesses:
AI is not “install and win.” Real impact requires a deliberate approach: choose a clear problem, measure results, iterate—and build capability over time.
2) AI Is Both an Open Door and a Brick Wall
AI has a dual nature when it comes to competition.
On the one hand, AI lowers barriers. Small businesses can:
Produce professional marketing and sales materials faster
Automate repetitive administrative workflows
Get support in analysis, planning, and customer dialogue
Test new offerings without major upfront investments
On the other hand, AI also reinforces economies of scale—especially around data, distribution, and lock-in. Large players can train better models, refine services faster, and create “winner-takes-all” dynamics. They can also build ecosystems that make switching providers painful. Just think about how you may already have chosen between ChatGPT, Copilot, or another AI assistant.
What this means for small businesses:
Capture the quick wins where AI is affordable and easy to adopt—but at the same time, strengthen your niche in ways that are hard to copy. This could be specialised domain expertise, service quality, customer proximity, or speed of delivery.
3) Public AI Support Often Misses What Small Businesses Actually Need
Many initiatives aimed at supporting small and medium-sized enterprises have good intentions—but the wrong focus. Reports from organisations such as the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth show that support is often perceived as too generic, too academic, and too far removed from day-to-day operations.
A key mismatch lies in priorities: public initiatives tend to reward innovation and “new AI products,” while many smaller businesses primarily want to use AI to streamline existing processes.
That said, criticism has led to more initiatives focused on applied AI, where smaller companies can receive practical support to move forward.
What this means for small businesses:
Reframe the question from “How do I learn AI?” to “Which specific part of my business do I want to improve—and how can AI help there?” Once you’ve identified your niche, support is often easier to find.
4) What Works Best: AI as an Assistant, Not a Replacement
A shift in mindset can make a huge difference: view AI as an assistant that supports you and your colleagues—not as a magical replacement for competence, relationships, and judgement.
This is often where small businesses have their superpower: close customer relationships, fast feedback loops, and a clear personal touch. AI should amplify that—not replace it.
A good way to start is to choose one concrete task, such as:
Creating an FAQ section on your website to reduce recurring customer questions
Summarising meeting notes and generating next-step action lists
Sorting and interpreting incoming emails, cases, or even procurement documents
Categorising receipts for accounting purposes
Producing first drafts of quotes, service descriptions, or onboarding materials
When AI is used in this way—close to daily operations and highly concrete—the time savings can be significant, especially in content creation and administration.
The Question Is Not If, but How
AI is powerful. But for small businesses, its impact is rarely automatic. It comes from choosing the right use cases, taking small steps, building internal capability, and changing ways of working—not just tools.
The truly decisive question is therefore:
What is the first task in your business that you could hand over to an AI assistant this very week?
