{
  "id": "F-30",
  "url": "https://evy.so/facts/ai-adoption-by-company-size/",
  "chapter": "Small Teams",
  "question": "How does AI adoption differ by company size?",
  "answer": "Large firms (250 or more employees) are 1.4 to 3.2 times as likely to use AI as small firms, a gap of 13 to 38 percentage points in 2025 to 2026 official statistics. In the US the gap starts only at about 50 employees: firms with 1 to 49 employees all sit at 21 to 25 percent.",
  "range": {
    "low": 13,
    "high": 38,
    "unit": "percentage-point gap in AI use, large firms (250+) against small firms",
    "display": "13–38 pts more AI use in large firms than small ones; large firms are 1.4 to 3.2 times as likely"
  },
  "confidence": "high",
  "confidence_reason": "Four official statistics agencies and an OECD random survey all find adoption rising with firm size. The direction is settled; the size of the gap depends on how each survey defines AI, its time window and its size bands.",
  "last_checked": "2026-10-14",
  "how_to_read": "The surveys define AI and time windows differently: any of seven technologies over a year (EU), any business function in two weeks (US), current use (UK), AI in producing goods or services over twelve months (Canada). Size bands differ too, and Canada compares 100+ firms rather than 250+, so its gap sits below the range. All are firm counts, so the many very small firms dominate national averages. The gap is widest for advanced uses such as generating text or code.",
  "sources": [
    {
      "creator": "US Census Bureau",
      "title": "Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS), employment size class estimates",
      "year": 2026,
      "sample": "About 20,000 responses per two-week period; collection ending 4 October 2026",
      "method": "Official experimental survey; AI in any business function in the prior two weeks. The 250+ figure is volatile.",
      "figure": "1 to 49 employees 21.5% to 24.8%; 50 to 99: 29.2%; 100 to 249: 36.4%; 250+: 36.5% (36.5% to 44.0% across the last seven rounds)",
      "url": "https://www.census.gov/hfp/btos/data",
      "quote": "did this business use Artificial Intelligence (AI) in any of its business functions?"
    },
    {
      "creator": "Office for National Statistics (UK)",
      "title": "Business insights and impact on the UK economy: 8 October 2026",
      "year": 2026,
      "sample": "UK business survey, wave live 21 September to 4 October 2026",
      "method": "Official statistics; current use of at least one listed AI technology",
      "figure": "0 to 9 employees 28.7%; 10 to 49: 36.1%; 50 to 99: 45.8%; 250+: 50.9%",
      "url": "https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/business/businessservices/bulletins/businessinsightsandimpactontheukeconomy/8october2026",
      "quote": "Adoption of AI technologies has consistently been higher for larger businesses."
    },
    {
      "creator": "Eurostat",
      "title": "Use of artificial intelligence in enterprises",
      "year": 2025,
      "sample": "About 157,000 EU enterprises with 10 or more employees, 2025",
      "method": "Official statistics; any of seven AI technologies during the year. Firms under 10 are not covered.",
      "figure": "10 to 49 employees 17.0%; 50 to 249: 30.4%; 250+: 55.0%. AI that generates text, speech or code: 7.0% small, 31.7% large",
      "url": "https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Use_of_artificial_intelligence_in_enterprises",
      "quote": "large enterprises used AI more than small and medium enterprises"
    },
    {
      "creator": "Statistics Canada",
      "title": "Analysis on artificial intelligence use by businesses in Canada, second quarter of 2026",
      "year": 2026,
      "sample": "9,251 responding businesses with employees, April to May 2026",
      "method": "Official survey; AI used to produce goods or deliver services in the past 12 months",
      "figure": "1 to 4 employees 19.9%; 100 or more employees 27.8%",
      "url": "https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-621-m/11-621-m2026010-eng.htm",
      "quote": "Over 1 in 4 (27.8%) businesses with 100 or more employees reported using AI"
    }
  ],
  "related_findings": [
    {
      "question": "Do firms with 5 employees use AI less than firms with 40?",
      "answer": "Barely, in the US. Firms with 1 to 4 employees (23.9%), 5 to 9 (21.5%), 10 to 19 (22.4%) and 20 to 49 (24.8%) all use AI at about the same rate; the step up comes at 50 employees (29.2%) and 100 (36.4%). Within the OECD's seven-country survey, one-person companies use generative AI half as often as firms with 50 to 249 employees (23.6% against 45.8%). Small adopters may use it more intensively: in the UK, 17% of AI-using firms under 10 employees use it extensively, against 9% of firms with 250 or more.",
      "sources": []
    }
  ],
  "numbers_you_may_have_seen": [
    {
      "claim": "Firms with at least 20 employees are the biggest AI users (US Census).",
      "what_the_source_says": "The headline is about a trend from December 2025 to May 2026. In the latest data, firms with 20 to 49 employees (24.8%) sit close to firms with 1 to 4 (23.9%); the step up comes at 50."
    },
    {
      "claim": "35% of UK businesses use AI.",
      "what_the_source_says": "That covers businesses with 10 or more employees in June 2026. Including the smallest firms, it was 29% in June and 30% in September 2026."
    },
    {
      "claim": "Large companies are twice as likely to use AI as SMEs.",
      "what_the_source_says": "Roughly right but band-dependent. In 2025 to 2026 data the ratio runs from about 1.4 (US, Canada) to 3.2 (EU, 250+ against 10 to 49)."
    }
  ],
  "citation": "EVY (2026). How does AI adoption differ by company size? The AI at Work Fact Book, F-30. https://evy.so/facts/ai-adoption-by-company-size/ (last checked October 14, 2026). CC BY 4.0.",
  "license": "CC BY 4.0"
}