Here's how small businesses are actually using AI, according to Google

Maureen Costello meeting with Rachel Reeves — (Image credit: Enterprise Nation)

Small and midsize businesses (SMBs) in the UK have doubled their use of AI tools over the last year, according to Google Cloud.

That includes Google's Gemini models but also Gemini Enterprise and AI Studio, said Maureen Costello, vice president for UK and Ireland at Google Cloud, in a blog post.

Costello said that the UK's five million-plus SMBs were the backbone of its economy. "Now, we're seeing these critical businesses begin to put AI to work, in order to operate more efficiently, move faster, and ultimately deliver better outcomes for their customers," she wrote.

She added: "At Google Cloud, we have a front row seat to this shift: SMBs have long utilized platforms like Google Workspace, and today, they're transforming with Google AI."

SMB struggles

Companies of all sizes have struggled with the AI rollout, in particular as return on investment (ROI) has proven elusive – a problem as costs of AI have started to rise.

Earlier this year, OpenAI said that SMBs were finding success with AI tools, though take-up remained sluggish in some parts of the UK. While more than nine in ten London-based SMBs were using AI, that was true of just one quarter in Yorkshire and Humber.

Microsoft noted that fear of falling behind was driving record adoption rates among UK businesses, with 84% now using AI for competitive advantages, versus 40% in 2025.

How SMEs use AI

According to Costello, SMBs have turned to AI for customer support, to automate repetitive actions in payroll and accounting, and to leverage data at work – without training to become data scientists.

She added that AI is helping smaller companies "rapidly create and implement new designs" for marketing. Smaller companies are also starting to let employees build their own AI agents for their day-to-day work.

She points to fintech Neural Alpha, which is using Gemini to read unstructured reports to automate digging out key facts, while security firm Sep 2 has developed autonomous AI agents for always-on threat modelling using Gemini Enterprise.

Design agency Sunhouse turned to Gemini Enterprise to hunt through its archives that are stored on Google Drive, events company Terrapinn automated manual tasks, and telecoms provider used Google Cloud AI tools to build autonomous workflows and make better use of data.

Google Cloud for British Business

Google pointed to a new set of resources designed to help smaller businesses navigate the new AI world.

That includes a new SMB Learning Path and Gemini Enterprise Agent Ready programme, which offers specialised agentic AI training. There's also Google Skills for Organisations, a free, on-demand learning platform that pulls together 3,000 AI courses, as well as Google's own certification platform.

"Whether you want to train your existing technical teams or democratize data tools across your entire workforce, these programs will help you build an AI-ready organization," said Costello.

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