US-based tech giant Meta on Wednesday released findings from a new YouGov study the company commissioned of almost 4,000 small business owners across nine APAC markets: Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, Taiwan, India, Thailand, Japan and Hong Kong, on how AI is helping them grow, compete with larger businesses and reach customers beyond their borders.

According to the findings, AI adoption is already broad, with 84 percent of surveyed small business owners currently using AI, 76 percent reporting a positive impact on productivity and 71 percent reporting a positive impact on revenue or sales over the past 12 months.

“Small business owners also report AI helps tackle two significant challenges facing small businesses: limited resources and limited time,” Meta Director of Public Policy Strategy APAC Beth Ann Lim wrote in a statement published on Meta’s website.

“Owners say AI is helping small businesses compete. Across the nine markets, four in five (80 percent) owners agree AI helps small businesses compete more effectively with larger companies, and the same proportion say it makes starting a business easier. 83 percent agree AI enables small businesses to do things that previously required significantly more money or resources,” she noted.

And, they say the time saved is going back into the business. Among those reporting a positive productivity impact from using AI, 58 percent are using the time to improve the quality of their existing work, 50 percent are putting it into growth and business planning, and 46 percent are getting more done with the team they already have.

According to Lim, the everyday uses are practical. Among surveyed owners whose business has used AI in the past 12 months, 51 percent have used it to create or edit content, 43 percent for local advertising and marketing, 38 percent for translation, and 37 percent for customer support and communications.

From Adoption to Advantage

More than four in five owners surveyed (86 percent) said small businesses need more guidance to gain the full benefits of AI.

Cost is the leading barrier to training, cited by 51 percent. When asked what support they would value most, owners pointed to clearer information on cost and return on investment, and guidance on data privacy and security.

In other words, small businesses have adopted AI – what they’re asking for now is help using it well. To make the most of AI, they need free training, clearer information on costs and returns, and policies that support access and investment in AI and digital skills, according to the findings.

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