Eliminating the great boss: Is entrepreneurship the antidote to AI unemployment?

As Small Business Month comes to a close, it’s worth reflecting on the important role played by small businesses, which account for 44 percent of the nation’s GDP and employ nearly half of Americans working in the private sector. But this year, a more pressing question underlies the celebration. As AI reshapes the job market, could small businesses become not just the backbone of the economy, but a key driver of opportunity?

We’ve seen this before. Small businesses have historically moved forward when large corporations have retreated. After the Great Recession, businesses with fewer than 500 employees created an estimated 62% of all new private sector jobs. And after the pandemic, small businesses accounted for more than 70% of private sector employment growth.

The same trend seems to hold true in the AI ​​era. According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2025/26 Global Report, half of Americans say the next six months will be a good time to start a new business in their area, and the same report found that nearly one in five Americans has already built something of their own. Additionally, in a 2025 survey, 67% of young people (Gen Z and Millennials) said they were pursuing entrepreneurship. LinkedIn data backs this up. The number of members with “founder” in their title has tripled since 2022, with both strategic advisors and independent consultants and founders in the top 10 fastest-growing roles.

We may be witnessing what could be called the “elimination of the great bosses.” It’s a structural shift in which AI facilitates a new wave of entrepreneurship, rather than simply eliminating opportunities.

Last year, we collaborated with Google.org to create a playbook for small employers without an HR department or general counsel that shows how AI tools can help them build the skills and systems they need to grow and compete.

But the role of AI in supporting entrepreneurship goes beyond just writing marketing copy with LLM or creating ads on social media. Sarah Horn, founder of Toledo, Ohio-based Manifesto, said AI is “enabling truly unprecedented levels of productivity for small business entrepreneurs” in everything from pet care to beauty. Her team is building a platform that gives small business founders access to the insights and support they need to not only increase their independence, but also achieve the prospect of financial mobility. “Having the skills to get the job done is only part of the puzzle,” Horne explained. “The hair stylists, pet resort owners, and funeral directors we serve have excelled at their craft. What they have never had before is access to business intelligence that allows large companies to make smarter decisions. AI can change that. Manifesto gives high street operators the same level of insight that a 500-person company pays a consultant to. It turns skills into thriving businesses, and thriving businesses into generational wealth.”

This is what the “AI will take our jobs” narrative misses. The same technologies that drive disruption also make it easier for ordinary people to build their own.

Just as importantly, for many Americans, going out alone is not a step back. That’s an upgrade. Self-employment can mean higher-quality jobs, according to the 2025 Quality of American Jobs Study, a collaboration between Jobs for the Future, the Family Worker Fund, and Gallup. The study found that nearly half (46%) of non-W-2 employees have high-quality jobs, compared to just 39% of traditional W-2 employees. Self-employed workers report having more say in when and how their work is completed, which for many is a factor that offsets trade-offs such as longer hours and reduced benefits. Similarly, the Pew Research Center found that 60% of self-employed people say they are satisfied with their jobs, compared to just 49% of non-self-employed people.

Of course, entrepreneurship is not a quick button that guarantees economic opportunity. Entrepreneurship comes with inherent risks and requires access to capital, which is often unequal and can deepen existing economic disparities. (Even “self-made” millionaires often start out with an upper-middle class education). Small business owners and self-employed individuals may also need help setting up health insurance and retirement plans, as many benefits are now provided through their employers, as well as managing the ongoing AI transformation.

Entrepreneurship is no panacea, but for millions of Americans, the future of work will not be on a corporate campus. These include a facility with 84 dogs and a beauty salon with an increasing number of customers. The question is not whether more Americans will choose to start small businesses in the AI ​​era, but how AI will strengthen the support systems they need to thrive.

This article originally appeared on Forbes.com