Why Small Businesses Might Actually Be Winning the AI Race

The founder of Asymbl, chief AI officer at SaaStr, and a Salesforce leader share how digital workers are transforming the growth trajectory of small and midsize businesses.

BY INC. CUSTOM STUDIO

If you read the latest tech reports from prominent research firms, you might get the impression that only large corporations are dominating the AI race and that small and midsize businesses (SMBs) are lagging. The reality is that many big companies are struggling to achieve a positive return on investment, with Gartner attributing the 20 percent failure rate of AI initiatives to being “overly ambitious” or “poorly scoped.”

In contrast, a growing number of SMBs are using AI to solve clearly defined problems on a smaller scale and achieving impressive productivity and revenue gains in the process. “You’re seeing SMBs grow in number before our eyes because of what AI is doing to allow small companies to accelerate,” said Adam Alfano, president of global sales at Salesforce, at a virtual event celebrating Small Business Week hosted by Inc.

In a talk with Inc. correspondent Shibani Joshi, Alfano joined Amelia Lerutte, chief AI officer at SaaStr, and Brandon Metcalf, founder and CEO of........

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