NZ SMBs boost revenue with early AI adoption

New research highlights the growing adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) among small-to-medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in New Zealand, with many leaders reporting an increase in revenue as a result.

The Small & Medium Business Trends report from Salesforce surveyed 3,350 SMB leaders across 26 countries, including 50 in New Zealand, and revealed that 95% of New Zealand SMB leaders using AI noted enhanced earnings.

According to the report, 82% of Kiwi SMBs are at least experimenting with AI. This figure surpasses the global average of 75% and is significantly higher than the 63% observed in the Asia-Pacific region. The benefits cited by these New Zealand businesses include improvements in revenue, productivity, and customer experience.

Furthermore, New Zealand business leaders identified their primary use cases for AI as optimising marketing campaigns, deploying automated customer service chatbots, and providing automated recommendations for customers.

Despite the positive sentiment towards AI, challenges remain. 70% of New Zealand SMB leaders expressed that keeping up with changing technology poses difficulties. However, the sense of optimism persists, with 74% of local business heads feeling positive about the future as they increase their engagement with AI, which is higher than the APAC average of 70%.

Globally, the report found that 78% of growing SMBs intend to increase their AI investments next year, compared to 55% of businesses that are declining. Security continues to be the primary technological challenge globally, with trust being a crucial factor in the adoption of new technology.

Adrian Towsey, Area Vice President, Emerging Small-to-Medium Business, Salesforce Australia & New Zealand, commented on the findings, "Small to medium businesses across New Zealand are reporting overwhelmingly positive results from their early adoption of AI.

"Business leaders who have seized on early AI use cases – such as marketing optimisation and customer service – are scaling faster, with improved operating margins, making them among the most successful leaders at implementing the technology to achieve results.

"By using AI and autonomous agents to create personalised content, and provide improved service and recommendations for customers, SMBs can improve the customer experience and build trust."