Business Wire – 1 hour ago
A new national survey reveals dramatic changes in how small and medium-sized businesses are embracing artificial intelligence (AI), with current usage jumping from 39% in 2024 to 55% in 2025, up 41%. The second annual AI and SME survey conducted by Thryv® (NASDAQ: THRY) highlights how AI is the foundation of SME strategies and helps owners save time, reduce costs and compete more effectively in an unpredictable economy.
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Many SMBs are drawn to AI for marketing support, and content marketing has emerged as the most popular use case.
The survey was conducted in May 2025 and based on 540 interviews with small business decision makers, it shows that AI adoption is particularly strong among companies with 10-100 employees. Young business owners and professional services and retail sector owners integrate AI into marketing, customer service and operations and lead rates.
The majority (80%) of small business users believe that AI is essential to reach new customers, with 78% saying they need to meet the growing expectations of consumers for speed and personalization. These perceived profits far outweigh the concerns about data security, which fell 40% year-on-year.
“Small businesses are wondering if they should use AI. They're deciding how quickly they can implement it,” said Grant Freeman, president of Thryv. “This AI embrace highlights the value that small and medium-sized businesses place in technology. AI helps them reach fewer customers, reach new customers, and operate with much larger business agility.”
How Small Businesses Benefit from AI
Among current AI small business users:
- 63% use AI every day. Top applications include data analytics (62%), content generation (55%), and customer engagement tools (46%) such as chatbots.
- 58% save more than 20 hours per month, reinvesting that time into growth initiatives such as process improvement, customer acquisition and innovation.
- 66% say AI saves business between $500 and $2,000 a month, with savings often redirecting to marketing, technology upgrades and infrastructure.
Impact on AI staffing level
Two-thirds (67%) agree that AI will put pressure on themselves and their staff. Almost half (46%) say it reduces their dependence on employees. Only 14% of respondents who believe AI can replace employees, and almost half (42%) are open to ideas under appropriate conditions. As AI adoption levels continue to rise among small and medium-sized businesses, this openness could affect the impact of AI on staffing levels.
The survey found that 41% of small businesses believe AI can help navigate economic uncertainty, and another 40% believe it may be. Optimism is the highest among white-collar and service-based businesses, with over 70% viewing AI as a strategic advantage.
Check out our research report here. For more information about how Thryv incorporates AI into major SME platforms, see Thryv.
Research method
Data were collected from 540 SME respondents between May 4th and May 14th, 2025. Respondents are business decision makers and are over 21 years of age. Respondents have been open for more than a year, have between 100 and 100 employees and report revenues ranging from $100,000 to $9.9 million.
About Thryv
Thryv Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: THRY) is a leading sales and marketing platform provider designed to help small businesses attract new and repeat customers. Thryv Software provides SMBS everything you need to manage your day to day operations and grow efficiently. The platform's AI-supported marketing and business automation allows business owners to save time, compete and win. Over 100,000 companies worldwide use Thryv software to connect with customers, run and grow their businesses. For more information, please visit www.thryv.com.
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