Artificial intelligence (AI) offers significant potential to improve your operational efficiency, customer engagement, and decision-making. However, navigating its implementation is no small feat, especially for SMBs like yours with limited budgets and expertise. While AI can bring impactful benefits for your business can be impactful, getting it wrong could lead to poor ROI and wasted resources. That’s why it’s best to take a measured and cautious approach to this emerging technology.
Below are some of the primary challenges SMBs face when adopting AI and actionable strategies to help your business overcome them.
What is AI in the context of small business?
True artificial intelligence is not yet possible with current technology, but the IT industry uses AI to describe tools that leverage machine learning and big data to provide insight or responses to queries. This could mean anything from data management tools that track and predict customer behavior to AI chatbots that simulate customer service representatives.
Regardless of what form your SMB AI tools take, you should be prepared for the coming challenges.
Technical integration issues
If you have a limited IT budget or advanced technology is not vital to your operations, it’s normal for your SMB to rely on legacy systems. But while they may be cost-effective now, they are not designed to integrate seamlessly with AI solutions.
Outdated protocols, incompatible operating systems, or lack of data APIs (application programming interfaces) can make connecting AI tools to your existing business processes overly difficult or even impossible. You’ll need to transition to a more modern IT infrastructure or rework these legacy systems to accommodate AI, but this can be costly and disruptive.
Solution: Focus on incremental modernization instead of a clean slate. Start with small pilot projects that don’t require a complete overhaul of existing systems. Finding third-party AI vendors with adaptable solutions can also reduce the need for in-house redevelopment efforts.
Budget and resource constraints
Like all technology that improves your productivity and efficiency, AI can be expensive. For SMBs operating on tight budgets, expenses like software licenses and consultant fees often outweigh the perceived benefits, especially when the ROI is unclear. Jumping into AI without a clear plan or access to expertise can quickly drain a limited budget.
Solution: Begin with low-cost, scalable AI tools tailored for SMBs, such as AI chatbots or predictive analytics platforms. With this approach, you can minimize financial risk and build a business case for further investment if you need approval for funding.
Cybersecurity missteps
Again, adopting AI is similar to adopting any new technology that changes the way you do things, which unfortunately means that AI adoption can introduce additional cybersecurity risks. AI systems require large volumes of data to operate effectively, so without the proper considerations, you might leave your systems vulnerable as your AI tools connect to outside sources and bring massive amounts of data in.
Solution: No benefits can outweigh the damage done by a data breach, so you must prioritize cybersecurity when implementing AI. Among the strategies you should deploy are encrypting sensitive data, conducting regular risk assessments, and using strong access controls. If your team lacks the required knowledge or expertise, it’s well worth it to bring on consultants who specialize in AI to prevent a devastating cyberattack.
Lack of AI strategy
Without a clear strategy, you risk implementing AI solutions that do not align with your business objectives. This fragmented approach can lead to wasted resources and minimal impact.
Solution: Partner with outsourceIT, and our AI consultants will help you make a personalized roadmap for your business that aligns the adoption of AI tools with your business goals. As the leading managed IT services provider in the DC Metro Area, we’re at the forefront of AI implementation in SMBs, so we can develop a strategy that boosts your productivity and profitability with this exciting new technology.
If you want to fully incorporate AI into your operations, contact our experts today.
