Small and medium businesses may operate with lean teams, but their impact is anything but small.
Contents
In today’s competitive environment, SMBs face the same economic pressures, customer expectations, and technology shifts as large enterprises, often with far fewer resources. To stay competitive, SMB leaders are investing heavily in technology, prioritizing data quality, and accelerating adoption of artificial intelligence to drive growth and efficiency.
This research report from Salesforce is based on a global survey of 3,350 small and medium business leaders. The sixth edition of the Small and Medium Business Trends Report explores how forward-looking SMBs are navigating growth, technology investment, and the rise of AI powered automation.
The findings reveal what separates high-growth SMBs from stagnant or declining peers and how technology choices directly impact performance.
You will learn how:
- 81 percent of SMB leaders are optimistic about their business future
- Salesforce research shows growing SMBs invest more aggressively in technology
- 76 percent of SMBs spend more on technology than they did last year
- High-growth SMBs prioritize customer experience over customer acquisition
- Three out of four SMBs are already using or evaluating AI
- SMBs using AI report higher productivity, revenue, and customer satisfaction
- AI is most commonly used for marketing optimization and content generation
- Data quality directly impacts AI performance and business outcomes
- 66 percent of SMBs plan to increase investment in data management
The report highlights a clear performance gap. Growing SMBs focus on improving customer experience, upgrading existing technology, and deploying new tools to strengthen operations. In contrast, stagnant and declining businesses prioritize short-term tactics such as chasing new customers or cutting costs.
AI adoption emerges as a defining growth lever. SMBs using AI are nearly twice as likely to report operational efficiency gains and competitive advantage. Use cases span marketing campaign optimization, personalized recommendations, automated service chatbots, and predictive forecasting. Looking ahead, many SMBs plan to expand AI investments as autonomous agents begin to handle tasks across sales, service, and operations.
Data strategy is another critical differentiator. While most SMBs believe they are data-driven, fewer than half say they are very data-driven. The report identifies key challenges including fragmented systems, limited analytics expertise, and difficulty turning insights into action. SMBs that improve data quality see measurable gains in productivity and revenue, especially when deploying AI.
Security and trust also play a growing role in technology decisions. As AI adoption increases, SMB leaders cite security as their top concern. At the same time, many businesses acknowledge gaps in basic security practices, highlighting the need for stronger data governance as technology stacks grow more complex.
Industry-specific insights reveal how AI adoption and data strategies vary across sectors such as manufacturing, retail, financial services, healthcare, and technology. Despite differences, one theme remains consistent. SMBs that unify data, invest in scalable platforms, and adopt AI responsibly are better positioned to compete with larger organizations.
This whitepaper is designed for SMB owners, executives, IT leaders, and growth teams seeking research-backed insight into how technology, data, and AI are reshaping small and medium business success.
Download the report from Salesforce to understand how SMBs worldwide are using AI and data to scale operations, improve customer experience, and drive sustainable growth.
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