Hey everyone,
I'm the owner of a small service business with about 40 people, and I'm trying to get a handle on how we're approaching AI. Not as a magic solution, but as another tool in the toolbox. The question keeps coming up: should we even be using AI, and if so, how?
From talking with other small business owners in similar positions, I'm hearing a few patterns. Some are diving in headfirst, trying every new AI tool that comes across their desk. Others are completely avoiding it, worried about costs, time investment, or just another tech trend that'll pass. A few are taking a more measured approach, identifying specific tasks where AI might actually save time or improve quality.
What I'm not hearing much about is a clear framework for making this decision. It feels like we're all just guessing based on our own comfort levels with technology rather than a business case.
So I'm genuinely curious how others are handling this. Specifically:
What's your actual decision-making process for adopting new AI tools? Is it based on specific problems you're trying to solve, or just exploring what's out there?
How do you separate the genuinely useful AI applications from the hype? What signals do you look for?
Who in your organization is driving this conversation - leadership, specific departments, or is it more grassroots?
Have you found any practical use cases that actually delivered measurable value for a small team, beyond just "it's cool"?
We're still figuring this out ourselves, and I'd be happy to share what we learn from this discussion in a follow-up post if there's interest.
Thanks for sharing your experiences.
This piece is from our notes on helping SMBs (10-100 people) build their first in-house AI teams. If your team is exploring this — quick feedback and questions welcome in the comments.
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