AI spreading on Main Street and transforming American small business

While the national conversation around AI often fixates on large corporations and Silicon Valley breakthroughs, AI’s impact is also a reality on Main Street. AI is rapidly transforming small businesses and the shift goes beyond just boosting productivity to directly influencing staffing decisions and day-to-day operations. Small business owners across the U.S. are actively embracing AI, and their future plans reveal a clear commitment to the technology. 

Our latest quarterly CNBC|SurveyMonkey Small Business Survey reveals the majority (71%) of owners who currently use AI plan on increasing investment, and some (17%) of those not yet utilizing AI expect to begin investing in it. Overall, four in ten (37%) small business owners use AI to help run their business, and 75% of these adopters say it’s already making a positive impact. 

Younger entrepreneurs are leading the charge. When asked about using AI to help run or operate their business, a similar percentage of Gen Z and millennial (59% and 51%, respectively) small business owners report current usage, a stark contrast to Gen X and boomers (34% and 29%, respectively).

This divide extends further into investment. Younger generations are keen to increase investment in AI tools and services over the next 12 months: 59% of Gen Z and 55% of millennials, compared to only 35% of Gen X and 25% of boomers.

This proactive stance among the next generation of business leaders isn’t just about adoption rates — it reflects differing sentiments on AI’s overall impact. A striking 89% of Gen Z and millennial small business owners who already use AI report its positive impact. For these younger generations, AI isn’t just a tool. It is becoming a strategic advantage.

This contrasts with older generations slightly, with 74% of Gen X respondents reporting that AI has a positive impact, and 59% among boomers. Notably, Gen X (25%) and boomers (36%) have a higher percentage of owners who remain undecided on its overall impact. 

AI’s shifting role in the workforce 

Beyond efficiency and investment, the rise of AI is reshaping the small business workforce itself. The technology has impacted headcount, with a little over half (54%) of small business owners who use AI sharing they have already reduced their number of employees as a result of AI (20%), or may do so in the future (35%). 

The youngest generation of business owners, Gen Z and millennials, are the most likely to report staffing changes: 69% say AI has already impacted headcount at their company. Older generations report headcount changes at a slower pace — 50% of Gen X and 36% of boomers. 

The data makes one thing clear: AI is beginning to reshape the fabric of small business operations. The way different generations engage with these changes could signal deeper shifts in workplace culture and leadership norms.

—By Eric Johnson, SurveyMonkey CEO