Dell Technologies research finds two-thirds (66%) of UK SMEs believe AI will somewhat or significantly boost business growth over the next three years
UK Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) see artificial intelligence as a route to growth, according to new research from Dell Technologies, with two-thirds (66%) believing it will somewhat or significantly boost their business over the next three years and 56% agreeing that using AI gives their business a competitive advantage.
Dell Technologies’ ‘AI in Action’ report surveyed 2,013 SME decision-makers, alongside 713 decision-makers at large businesses, to understand how SMEs are adopting AI, where it is creating value and what those gaining the most are doing differently.
The research found that AI frees up an average of 2.5 hours per employee each week among SMEs. While productivity is the primary driver of AI investment, cited by 43%, the outcomes SMEs are pursuing go beyond efficiency to better decision-making (30%) and improved customer experience (29%).
The findings point to an opportunity for SMEs to use the capacity and capabilities created by AI to focus more attention on the work that moves their businesses forward. Among SMEs, the most commonly selected impacts of AI on employee opportunities were creating opportunities to work on more strategic outputs (27%) and creating opportunities to do more interesting work (24%).
The AI Front-Runner Playbook
A small group of AI front-runners, representing 7% of SMEs surveyed, report gaining six or more hours per employee each week through AI. Their feedback indicates that the businesses reporting the strongest gains are more likely to give AI clear direction and apply a broader AI toolkit across the business.
They are more likely to have leaders championing AI as a priority (38% vs. 23% of SMEs overall), clearly define specific AI use cases (52% vs. 25%) and cultivate an AI-friendly culture (45% vs. 25%).
Their toolkit also extends beyond familiar AI chat services. More than half use generative AI for content creation (54% vs. 30% of SMEs overall), while 49% use AI-powered data analysis (vs. 27%), 38% use virtual assistants or chatbots for customer support (vs. 19%) and 29% are deploying AI agents (vs. 12%). They are also more likely to be investing in AI-ready hardware, with 23% using AI-enabled PCs compared with 15% of SMEs overall, suggesting greater attention to the technology foundations needed to support adoption.
“Time gained is an impressive measure, but what really counts is what that additional capacity can enable for business owners and their teams,” commented Lisa Ronaldson, UK Senior Sales Director, Medium Business at Dell Technologies. “Most business owners didn’t start a company to spend their days wrestling with admin, analysing spreadsheets or writing marketing copy. AI can help take some of that weight away, so people can focus more of their time on customers, expertise and growth.”
The SME Advantage
While many SMEs are early in their AI journey, the research highlights their potential to adapt and see results without first reaching full AI maturity. Most large businesses (61%) agree, stating that “greater flexibility” is an advantage for SMEs in adopting and innovating with AI, along with more focused business needs (43%) and a greater appetite for innovation and risk taking (38%).
SMEs also recognise these advantages and are less likely than large businesses to cite barriers like lengthy approval processes (12% of SMEs compared to 27% of large businesses), resistance from teams (17% compared to 27%) or fear of failure (21% compared to 33%), as holding them back from making AI implementation a success.
Looking at AI front-runners, the study suggests that leading SMEs are capitalising on these strengths: 52% say they have defined clear AI use cases versus 42% of large businesses, 45% say they have cultivated an AI friendly culture (vs. 42%) and 54% use generative AI for content creation (vs. 43%).
“For SMEs, AI success is less about scale and technical maturity and more about applying the right tools to the right business challenges,” said Brian Horsburgh, UK Small Business Country Manager at Dell Technologies. “The businesses seeing the strongest results aren’t trying to deploy every new AI tool at once. They’re identifying specific problems to solve, building confidence through early wins and gradually broadening what their teams are capable of doing.”
AI front-runners aren’t always AI experts
More than a third (38%) of SMEs reporting the greatest time gains still describe themselves as being in the early stages of AI adoption or have AI integrated into only a handful of functions. This supports the most common piece of advice for peers from the AI front-runners themselves: “start small and iterate” (48%). These initial, tangible results create immediate value and build the momentum needed for further innovation.
Businesses achieving significant AI gains are also found across every sector studied, suggesting that industry is not a barrier to realising value from AI. While IT (21%) and Engineering, Manufacturing & Construction (19%) account for the largest share of AI front-runners, Retail (15%), Professional Services (15%), Consumer Goods & Services (11%) and Banking, Financial Services & Insurance (6%) are also represented.
Front-runners are also more likely to invest in people as well as technology. Nearly half (48%) prioritise employee training as much as the AI tools themselves, compared with just 32% of SMEs overall. In doing so, they begin to resemble large businesses, where 52% place equal emphasis on training and technology.
The full “AI in Action” report can be downloaded here: dell.co.uk/AIMadeEasy
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