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Here are five things that happened in the tech industry this week and how they impact your business. Were you lonely?
This week in small business technology news
Small Business Technology News #1 – Inside Coca-Cola, Nike, and Starbucks’ AI Strategies
The world’s top brands like Coca-Cola, Nike, and Starbucks are leveraging artificial intelligence to not only run better operations, but transform customer experiences, personalize products, and increase revenue. Coca-Cola made a $1.1 billion AI investment with Microsoft to expand the embedding of AI across its business. The “Create Real Magic” holiday campaign used Azure AI to build a multilingual, conversational digital Santa that engaged over 1 million users in 26 languages. Nike is leveraging AI for brick-and-mortar retail. RFID recognizes customers as they enter the store and recommends personalized products based on their Nike profile. Starbucks’ Deep Brew AI platform analyzes data from millions of app users to personalize recommendations, optimize staffing, manage inventory, and tailor offers. (Source: AI Magazine)
Why this is important for small businesses:
Many of my small business clients are trying to find ways to use AI to improve their businesses. For me, the answer lies in big business. That’s because large companies are spending hundreds of millions of dollars on new AI systems to help with security, service, marketing, and customer experience. Some are starting to find success. Ultimately, the AI applications that these big concerns are using today will narrow down to smaller companies.
Small Business Technology News #2 – Deloitte Report: Human skills power high-performing teams in the AI era.
A new Deloitte study finds that even as AI becomes more commonplace in the workplace, human capabilities remain the core driver of high-performing teams. The study surveyed approximately 1,400 professionals across a variety of industries and compared the team dynamics of teams that consistently achieve their goals over time and those that do not. High-performing teams stand out not just because they use more AI (78 percent vs. 54 percent), but because of how they work together and support each other. Important human factors include: Trust and respect are important factors, as high-performing teams are 2.3 times more likely to feel trusted by their team leader. Agility and autonomy (teams that adapt quickly to change and give team members the freedom to act with purpose). 68% of respondents said they take time to help their team members learn and grow. Data from Deloitte shows that AI will not replace the human element that makes teams successful. (Source: PR Newswire)
Why this is important for small businesses:
It has become more clear to me that in the not-too-distant future, a significant number of menial jobs will be replaced by AI, but most employees will continue to work using AI tools to increase productivity. Employees who are more engaged are also more valuable.
Small Business Technology News #3 – Microsoft is making Teams more secure.
Microsoft has enabled new security protections for Microsoft Teams for organizations using default settings as of January 12, 2026. These changes are designed to make it harder for attackers to exploit Teams as a gateway for malware, phishing, credential theft, and other attacks. Microsoft aims to improve the security of collaboration tools without requiring administrator action, and this update includes multiple layers of protection. Users can report files and links that are incorrectly blocked, allowing IT teams to fine-tune policies. According to Microsoft, this update recalibrates settings for IT teams to “contribute to proactive security.” (Source: Techzine)
Why this is important for small businesses:
Given the prevalence of Teams and the potential threat risks, it’s important to ensure your IT team implements these security changes.
Small Business Technology News #4 – Wix vs. Weebly: One “Clearly Wins”.
jordan miner PCMag We’ve put together the results of testing website builders Wix and Weebly. According to Miner, he says Wix comes out on top in head-to-head testing. They typically offer more powerful tools, greater design flexibility, and stronger support than Weebly. Advantages of both platforms include free plans, Weebly offers cheaper plans, and unlimited storage on lower tiers. Wix offers far more templates (over 1000 compared to Weebly’s 50) and is the clear winner when it comes to design features. While Wix includes AI tools to help generate content and build sites based on your prompts, Weebly currently has no AI capabilities. “If you’re looking for an easy way to build an online destination, Wix is your first website builder,” Miner said (Source: PCMag)
Why this is important for small businesses:
Both applications are popular and worth considering for small businesses. Minors prefer Wix. We have several clients who are extremely happy with Weebly.
Small Business Technology News #5 – Google’s AI Inbox may offer a glimpse into the future of Gmail.
Jay Peters The Verge We reported on Google’s “AI Inbox” experiment for Gmail. It’s a new way to view email, replacing the traditional list of messages with AI-generated tasks and topics extracted from the contents of your inbox. This version of Gmail is now available to “test believers,” and Peters tried it out to see if it could improve his “near-zero inbox system.” Peters’ point is that AI Inbox is similar to Google Search’s AI mode. It will generate a suggested to-do list at the top with a short summary and links to specific messages for follow-up. He also noted that the AI ”incorrectly guessed” unrelated items. Overall, Peters thinks AI Inbox is interesting but not necessary, especially if you already have a very organized inbox. (Source: The Verge)
Why this is important for small businesses:
If your organization uses Google Workspace or Gmail, in the not-too-distant future Gmail will have AI capabilities that will allow your team to search for personal and company-wide emails in natural language, just as if they were in a regular Google search window. This can make a huge difference to your business. Because most of your important information is stored somewhere in your email.
Each week, we highlight five small business technology news stories and explain why they’re important to your business. If you have any interesting stories, please post them to my X account @genemarks.
