76% of Small Businesses Use AI, but Only 14% Have Fully Integrated It: How to Close the Gap

What the Data Shows

Goldman Sachs' 10,000 Small Businesses Voices survey, published March 17, 2026, found that 76% of small businesses use AI and 93% say it has had a positive impact on their operations. Only 14% have fully integrated AI into core operations, and 73% say more training and resources would help them implement it successfully.

The survey covered 1,256 participants in the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program and was run by Babson College and David Binder Research between January 27 and February 4, 2026. Because respondents come from a business-education program, the results are not a random sample of all small businesses. A separate Goldman dataset reported by Axios on October 22, 2026 found that 86% of 2,474 program participants and graduates use AI at work, a different sample and period.

Three Ways to Close the Gap

• Pick one core process, not ten experiments. Light use of AI is common, deep integration is not. Choose one repeatable process, such as answering customer enquiries or following up on quotes, and make AI part of it every day. This is our suggestion, not part of the survey.
• Invest in training before more tools. With 73% of respondents asking for more training and resources, the bottleneck looks like know-how rather than software. Spend time teaching your team how the tool fits your workflow before adding another subscription.
• Write down the workflow so it can be repeated. Documented steps, clear owners, and a human check on important outputs turn a one-off trial into an operation that keeps working when the person who tried it is away.

This Week's Step

List the three processes that take most of your team’s time, pick the most repeatable one, and write down its steps and who checks the result before you decide which AI tool to use.