The study offers insight into how MSMEs are experiencing digital transformations and what role AI is playing in their businesses. Leaders of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MPMEs) from various sectors of the economy have begun to pay more attention to artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in the last year, according to a study commissioned by Microsoft from Edelman Comunicação. The study offers insight into how MSMEs are experiencing digital transformations and what role AI is playing in their businesses. 74% of respondents stated that they are always or frequently using AI, and 90% of them are currently looking to adopt this technology.
The annual survey, in its 4th edition, this year has focused on AI, searching for trends, challenges, and opportunities in this constantly evolving universe. The data confirms that AI is the main technological trend of the moment, regardless of the size of the company. In general, MSMEs are making considerable progress in its use: 59% said they have made progress in adopting the technology, a proportion that is even higher in companies in the technology sector, such as telecommunications, which stood out with 85% responding that have made ” a lot ” or ” a lot ” progress in AI adoption. When compared between companies that are ” digital natives ” and ” non-digital natives “, the progress in AI adoption is even greater, with 84% of digital natives stating that they are already using the technology. In this comparison, 78% of leaders at digitally native companies said AI is a priority in the company, compared to 53% of non-digitally native companies.
Investments
As for investments, 47% of companies said they are investing in AI, compared to just 27% a year earlier. In 2023, artificial intelligence was second only to cloud storage technologies, which received investment from 56% of MSMEs, compared to 45% the previous year. “For companies to reap the benefits of AI, their applications need to be in the cloud, as data on the prioritization of these investments shows. Furthermore, although some companies were already using AI, the technology was applied to issues specific, such as customer service, for example. Now, with generative AI and the launch of Copilot, a generative AI solution focused on unleashing creativity, increasing productivity, and upskilling people, which is present in Microsoft 365 applications such as Teams, Outlook, and Word, there is a range of new opportunities for optimization, support for productivity and creativity that can be explored by organizations,” says the Microsoft Brazil executive.
Copilot is Microsoft’s application that uses generative AI and broad language models (LLM) to help users perform complex tasks such as developing text, creating presentations, and summarizing emails and meetings. The solution is available for major Microsoft products and services, from AI chat on Bing, which is changing the way people search on the Internet, to Microsoft 365 Copilot, GitHub Copilot X, Dynamics 365 Copilot, Copilot on Microsoft Viva and Microsoft Security Co-pilot.
In addition to AI and Cloud, between 2022 and 2023, some investment priorities changed for MSMEs, with 47% saying they were investing in hardware (laptops and other peripherals), compared to 53% the previous year. Regarding virtual collaboration software, while 34% declared they were paying attention to the topic the previous year, in 2023, this figure rose to 44%. Companies are also more attentive to cybersecurity, in 2022 39% said they invested in solutions in this area, in 2023, this figure increased to 43%.
Microsoft launches “Copilot for Finance”
In 2023, the number of MPMEs that started using artificial intelligence increased to 74%, up from 61% the previous year. Among those not currently investing in AI, 19% said they plan to start doing so in 2024. According to Andrea Cerqueira, this data shows an increase in the digital maturity of MSMEs.
Overall, 89% of leaders and 78% of employees are optimistic and see a positive impact of AI on business and their work. In this context, 84% of companies are encouraging employees to use AI. For almost half of companies (47%), acquiring and adopting technologies is a priority when it comes to artificial intelligence, while 40% are also looking to develop proprietary solutions and optimize data for business intelligence.
Where and how do MSMEs apply AI?
The main motivations for companies to invest in AI were: improving customer experience (61%), increasing efficiency, productivity, and agility (54%), and ensuring business continuity (46%). The majority of companies surveyed said they use AI as virtual assistants for customer service (69%). The second most common form of application of AI for companies in this segment, according to the research, is as a tool to speed up work (64%) and 43% are already using it to generate text or image content.
Looking ahead, in addition to customer service, 39% of respondents see the potential of AI in IT; 30% in the Communication and Marketing teams; and 27% in the Finance and Administration departments. Other areas of the companies were also mentioned, such as Sales (27%), Human Resources (25%), Operations and Production (20%) and Legal (6%). However, there are already companies with a broader vision of the use of AI, with 16% saying that they already apply it in all departments. Contrary to the market, there are some leaders (4%) who said they do not use and do not intend to use the technology.
Cost-benefit relation
Among companies already using AI, the main perceived benefits were increased efficiency and productivity (72%), improved customer service (58%) and cost reduction (46%). In addition, 41% of companies said they use artificial intelligence to develop new products, 33% use data in decision-making, and 31% reduce human errors. In these companies that adopted AI, there was also a 91% improvement in work quality, as well as a 90% improvement in customer satisfaction and an 88% improvement in employee motivation and commitment.
” Artificial intelligence technologies have evolved to improve the quality of life of workers. This study shows that, for 77% of MSMEs, the use of AI has allowed employees to focus on more creative and relevant work. This data “Is in line with Microsoft’s vision on artificial intelligence, which sees technology as a Co-pilot in daily work, reducing the time spent on tedious and repetitive tasks,” explains Andrea.
Although the perception of the use of AI by companies is positive, 46% of them reported difficulties related to the cost and access to the technology, in addition to challenges with hiring talent with AI skills (36%), training current talent (36%), data privacy (34%) and cybersecurity (23%).
Personnel Training
Regarding workforce training, when asked about HR-related AI investment priorities, 49% said they invest in attracting external talent with AI skills; 37% invest in training current staff, and only 7% are doing both at the same time.
For Andrea Cerqueira, the main point that MSMEs must pay attention to is the human factor:
” AI is an assistant at work and increases employee productivity. But, like all new tools, it is necessary to learn how to use this technology. Whatever the function, in the short and medium term, all people of all “Sectors will need to learn to master this technology, so workforce training and qualification must be included in solution acquisition strategies .”
There is a high rate of satisfaction with the use of AI within companies, 94% of companies surveyed stated that they see a positive impact of artificial intelligence on work productivity, and 91% also said that there was a quality improvement. Technology also positively impacted the level of employee satisfaction for 88% of respondents.
” Copilot and new Azure-based generative AI tools, such as Azure OpenAI Service, have arrived to democratize access to technology, as they are easy to use and can be operated by anyone, regardless of their technical background. But it is important to “offer adequate training so that collaborators can take advantage of this technology. We have various courses on the subject available for free on the Microsoft Conecta+ platform,” explains Andrea.
Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity threats related to AI in companies are still incipient; according to the study, only 16% of MPMEs reported incidents related to this type of technology. However, when it comes to internal policies for the use of technology, 40% of companies said they had some guidelines, 45% said they trusted the criteria of the employees themselves, and 10% said they did not have any type of guidelines. internal guidance applied to AI tools, while 5% prohibit the use of the technology.
Among the most common measures to adapt to AI related to processes to avoid cyber threats are training (61%), the acquisition of security technologies with incorporated AI (54%), and the hiring of external specialists (33%).
” When technology evolves, new forms of cyber threats also emerge, and addressing the mitigation of these risks must be part of companies’ strategies and investments. It is essential to establish clear internal policies to guarantee data protection and have protection tools efficient and intelligent solutions that accompany the evolution of AI, as well as guaranteeing the ethical and responsible use of the solutions,” emphasizes Andrea Cerqueira. The study interviewed 300 people in Brazil, most of them managers of companies with up to 250 employees and from various sectors of the economy.