Small Teams
How companies of 2 to 50 people work and use AI: their share of the economy, AI adoption and the gap with large firms, what stops them, what they gain and how long owners work.
6 facts from 26 studies. See the chapter on one poster.
- F-2896–99%
How much of the economy do small companies make up?
Companies with fewer than 50 people are 96 to 99 percent of all businesses in the US, EU and UK. They employ about a quarter of US employer-firm workers (26 percent) and nearly half of people working in the EU and UK business economy (47 to 48 percent, counting the self-employed).
- F-2920–46%
What share of small businesses use AI, and for what?
Between a fifth and a half of small businesses use AI, 20 to 46 percent in official counts and weighted owner surveys from 2025 to 2026, mostly for writing and marketing. Use is shallow: only 7 percent of AI-using US small firms have fully built it into how they work.
- F-3013–38 pts
How does AI adoption differ by company size?
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.
- F-3154–63%
What stops small companies from adopting AI?
Mostly the belief that AI does not apply to them: 54 to 63 percent of US firms under 50 employees with no AI plans say so, and 57 percent of non-adopting SMEs in seven OECD countries. Lack of knowledge and privacy worries come next, at about one in five each; cost is cited by 6 to 16 percent.
- F-3265–78%
Do small firms that use AI see gains?
Most say yes on productivity: 65 to 78 percent of AI-using small firms report that AI raised productivity or employee performance, by their own account and with no size of gain attached. Far fewer report higher sales, about 3 in 10, and almost none report changes in jobs.
- F-3345–52 h
How many hours do small business owners work, and how much goes to admin?
Small business owners work about 45 to 52 hours a week, roughly 10 hours more than employees: EU employers worked 46.3 hours in 2025 against 36.6 for employees. Admin takes about a fifth to a third of owner time, by vendor surveys.