Research commissioned by Microsoft shows how these companies are using technology and reveals that 90% of those interviewed are looking for ways to adopt it
Leaders of micro, small and medium-sized companies from different sectors of the economy started to look more closely at artificial intelligence (AI) technologies last year, reveals a study commissioned by Microsoft for Edelman Comunicação. The survey provides an overview of how MSMEs are experiencing digital transformations and what role AI is playing in their businesses. 74% of the interviewees stated that they are using AI always or often, with 90% of them currently seeking to adopt this technology.
The annual survey is in its 4th edition and, this year, it looked at AI, looking for trends, challenges and opportunities in this constantly evolving universe. The data confirmed AI as the biggest technology trend of the moment, regardless of the size of the company. Overall, MSMEs are making a lot of progress in their use – 59% said they have made progress in adopting the technology, a proportion that is higher in technology companies, such as telecommunications, which stood out in this indicator with 85% responding that they have made “a lot of progress ” or “a lot” in AI adoption.
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When the comparison is between companies that are “digital natives” and “non-digital natives”, progress in adopting AI is even greater, 84% of digital natives stated that they are already using the technology. In this comparison, 78% of leaders of digital native companies said that they have artificial intelligence as a priority in the company, compared to 53% of non-digital native companies.
investments
Regarding investments, 47% of companies said they are investing in AI, in 2022 this percentage was just 27%. In 2023, artificial intelligence was second only to cloud storage technologies, which received investment of 56% from MSMEs, compared to 45% in the previous year. “For companies to take advantage of the benefits of AI, their applications need to be in the cloud, as shown by the data when prioritizing these investments. Furthermore, even though some companies were already using AI, the technology was applied to specific issues, such as customer service, for example. Now, with generative AI, and the launch of Copilot, a generative AI solution focused on unlocking creativity, unlocking productivity, and improving people skills, which is present in Microsoft 365 apps like Teams, Outlook, 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 email inboxes and meetings. The solution is available for leading Microsoft products and services, from AI chat on Bing that is changing the way people search 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, 47% of companies said they were investing in hardware (notebooks and other peripherals), compared to 53% in the previous year. Regarding virtual collaboration software, while 34% declared that they were paying attention to the topic in the previous year, in 2023, this percentage rose to 44%. Companies are also paying more attention to cybersecurity, in 2022, 39% of companies said they invested in solutions on this front, in 2023, this figure increased to 43%.
In 2023, the number of MSMEs that started using artificial intelligence rose to 74%, compared to 61% in the previous year. Among those who, at the moment, are not yet investing in AI, 19% said they intend to start investing 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 the business and their work. In this context, 84% of companies are encouraging employees to use AI. For almost half of the companies (47%) the acquisition and adoption of technologies is a priority when it comes to artificial intelligence, while 40% also seek to develop their own solutions and optimize data for commercial intelligence.
Where and How do MSMEs apply AI?
The main motivations for companies to invest in AI were: improving the customer experience (61%), gaining efficiency, productivity and agility (54%) and ensuring business continuity (46%). Most 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 to the future, in addition to customer service, 39% of respondents see the potential of AI in the IT area; 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 using AI, which 16% said already apply AI in all departments. Going against the market, there are some leaders (4%) who said they do not use and have no intention of using the technology.
Cost benefit
Among companies that already use AI, the main benefits perceived were gains in efficiency and productivity (72%), improved customer service (58%) and reduced costs 46%. Furthermore, 41% of companies said they use artificial intelligence to develop new products, 33% use data in decision making and 31% to reduce human errors. In these companies that adopted AI, there was also a perception of 91% of improvement in the quality of work, in addition to 90% in customer satisfaction and 88% in employee motivation and engagement.
“Artificial intelligence technologies have evolved to bring a better quality of life to workers. This study shows that for 77% MSMEs, the use of AI has made employees focus on more creative and relevant work. “This data is in line with Microsoft's vision for artificial intelligence, which sees technology as a co-pilot in everyday work, reducing the time spent on time-consuming and repetitive tasks”, explains Andrea.
Although the perception of the use of AI by companies is positive, 46% of them reported difficulties related to cost and access to technology, as well as challenges with hiring talent with AI skills (36%), training current talent (36%), data privacy (34%) and cybersecurity (23%).
People capacitation
Regarding the qualification of the workforce, when asked about the priorities for investments in AI related to human resources, 49% said they invest in attracting external talent with artificial intelligence skills; 37% invests in training its current staff and only 7% is doing both at the same time.
For Andrea Cerqueira, the main point that MSMEs need to pay attention to is the human factor. “AI is a work assistant that increases employee productivity. But, like all new tools, it is necessary to learn how to use this technology. Whatever the role, in the short and medium term, all people from all sectors will need to learn to master this technology, which is why the training and qualification of the workforce must be included in solution acquisition strategies.”
There is a high level of satisfaction with the use of AI within companies, 94% of the interviewed companies stated that they see a positive impact of artificial intelligence on work productivity, 91% also said that there was an improvement in quality. Technology also positively impacted the level of employee satisfaction for 88% respondents.
“Copilot and new generative AI tools based on Azure, such as the Azure OpenAI Service, came to democratize access to technology, as they are simple to use and can be operated by anyone, regardless of technical qualifications. But it is important to offer adequate training so that employees can take advantage of this technology. We have several courses on the topic that are 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 MSMEs reported incidents linked to this type of technology. However, when it comes to internal policies for the use of technology, 40% of the companies said they had some guidelines, 45% claimed to trust the criteria of their own employees and 10% said they did not have any type of internal guidance applied to AI tools, while 5% prohibited the use of technology.
Among the most common AI adaptation measures related to processes to prevent cyber threats are training (61%), acquiring security technologies with embedded AI (54%) and hiring external experts (33%). “When a technology evolves, new forms of cyber threats also emerge and acting to mitigate these risks needs to be part of companies’ strategies and investments. It is essential to establish clear internal policies to guarantee data protection and have efficient and intelligent protection tools that follow the evolution of AI, as well as guaranteeing the ethical and responsible use of solutions”, reinforces Andrea Cerqueira.
The study interviewed 300 people from Brazil, the majority of whom were managers from companies with up to 250 employees and from different sectors of the economy.
about the search
The 2023 survey, called “AI in micro, small and medium-sized companies: trends, challenges and opportunities”, carried out 300 online interviews, through the Offerwise website, with self-declared leaders of MSMEs in December 2023, with 38% holding positions as owners or partners of the company, 34% managers, 16% directors and 12% vice presidents ( 12%). The respondent's area of work is varied, with Administration (25%) and Technology and Communications (20%) prevailing. The majority are women (53%) and correspond mainly to the age group between 25 and 44 years old. São Paulo stands out as the State with the highest concentration of operation centers with 99 responses, followed by Rio de Janeiro, with 40, Minas Gerais (27), Bahia (22) and Paraná (18).
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