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Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak argues that artificial intelligence can become a “small business superpower,” allowing smaller companies to perform work they previously lacked the people, time or money to handle. The advantage is not automatic: it depends on choosing useful tasks, preparing employees and improving systems through repeated, measured experiments.
What Sunak said about AI and small businesses
In an article published by Enterprise Nation on 9 June 2026, Sunak wrote: “I am convinced that AI can be the small business superpower. Enabling you to achieve things that you never had the resources or the manpower to do before.”
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He said his advisory work with Anthropic, Microsoft and Goldman Sachs had reinforced his view that AI would change business quickly. His argument is organisational rather than a claim that every small company will outperform every large one. Large organisations often have several approval layers, established processes and slower procurement cycles. A smaller firm can decide, test a tool and change direction with fewer internal barriers.
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Sunak warned that companies that do not adopt AI could contribute to a “K-shaped economy.” In his words, SMEs could either be taken over by larger businesses or lose market share to them. He also said AI could help smaller firms “leap ahead of big businesses, many of whom won’t be as nimble as you.”
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What the available UK evidence shows
Enterprise Nation reported that 21% of its audience were using AI regularly. That figure describes Enterprise Nation’s research audience; it is not a measurement of all UK small and medium-sized businesses.
ITPro reported 2026 Dell Technologies research in which 66% of UK SMBs viewed AI as a “route to growth” and 56% said it could provide a competitive advantage. The same report identified an “AI front runner” group representing about 7% of surveyed firms. Those businesses said AI freed six or more hours each week.
The Dell figures were reported by ITPro, and the publicly available report described here does not provide a full methodology. They should therefore be treated as directional evidence of business sentiment and reported time savings, not as a controlled demonstration that AI makes small firms more productive than large firms.
Where a small company can gain an advantage
| Decision factor | Potential small-business advantage | What must be in place |
|---|---|---|
| Decision speed | An owner or small leadership team can approve a pilot quickly. | A named decision-maker and a clear budget limit. |
| Approval bureaucracy | Fewer departments can make deployment simpler. | Basic security, privacy and legal checks before staff use a tool. |
| Use-case clarity | A focused problem, such as drafting quotations or summarising support requests, can be addressed directly. | A defined baseline and a success measure. |
| Employee readiness | A small team can share a common workflow and learn together. | Training, written guidance and a way to report mistakes. |
| Administrative time | Routine research, document handling or first-draft work may be reduced. | Human review and a check that saved time is actually recorded. |
| Customer experience | Faster replies and more consistent information may improve service. | Approved answers, escalation rules and protection for customer data. |
| Iteration cost | A small pilot can be changed or stopped without a large sunk investment. | Short trials rather than long contracts at the start. |
How to start adopting AI without overcommitting
- Choose one bottleneck. List repetitive work that delays customers or growth, such as meeting-note preparation, proposal first drafts, stock or scheduling analysis, or sorting incoming enquiries. Do not begin with a vague goal to “use AI everywhere.”
- Set a baseline. Record the current time, error rate, response time and cost for the task. Without a baseline, a faster-looking workflow may simply move work to checking and correction.
- Define data boundaries. Decide what confidential, personal or commercially sensitive information may not be entered into a tool. Assign responsibility for access, retention and deletion before a pilot starts.
- Run a small pilot. Give one team a limited task and a fixed trial period. Keep a human responsible for final decisions, customer-facing claims, financial outputs and employment-related actions.
- Train the people doing the work. Show employees how to provide context, check outputs, recognise fabricated information and escalate uncertain results. Sunak’s argument depends on adoption by employees, not merely buying software.
- Measure and iterate. Compare the pilot with the baseline, including correction time and customer outcomes. Keep it, change it or stop it based on evidence. Brian Horsburgh, Dell Technologies’ UK small business country manager, said the advice from businesses of all sizes was to “start small and iterate.”
- Document the successful workflow. Record approved prompts or procedures, review points, owners and an incident process. This turns an individual experiment into a repeatable capability.
Why leadership and culture matter more than the tool
The firms described as AI front runners combine leadership priority, defined use cases and an AI-friendly culture. A small company may be able to move quickly, but speed without governance can create inaccurate quotes, privacy breaches, biased decisions or customer distrust.
Horsburgh said AI can take some work “off their plate,” giving owners and employees more time for customers, creativity and growth. That benefit appears only when the saved hours are redirected to valuable work rather than absorbed by checking poor outputs or adding new administration.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Sunak’s comments in the wider UK policy timeline
The 2 April 2026 activities page for Murty Sunak records his appearance in Birmingham at Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses UK, where he discussed AI and British small business. Earlier, while prime minister, Sunak’s 18 March 2024 Business Connect speech described the UK as having five and a half million small businesses. That speech concentrated on tax, red tape, finance and apprenticeships rather than AI, showing how quickly the policy conversation has shifted.
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What “competitive edge” does—and does not—mean
Sunak’s phrase describes an opportunity created by agility: a small firm may apply AI to a narrow problem sooner, learn faster and devote more human attention to customers. It is not evidence that SMEs universally outperform large companies, nor that adoption alone creates growth. Large firms can also have greater data, specialist staff and investment capacity.
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For a small business, the practical test is whether a specific AI-assisted process improves a measured outcome while meeting its obligations for accuracy, privacy and accountability. That disciplined approach is the condition behind the potential advantage.
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