AI on the Front Lines: What I'm Seeing in Small Business Right Now
By Ethan Blak, CMO at Uplinq
Every week, I speak with small business owners who are just trying to keep their heads above water. They’re managing cash flow, juggling hiring challenges, racing to meet tax deadlines, and somehow still trying to grow. These aren’t high-growth startups chasing their next funding round — they’re legacy businesses: auto shops, construction firms, retail stores, service providers. The backbone of the real economy.
And something is shifting.
For the first time, these businesses are beginning to feel the real, tangible impact of artificial intelligence. Not the buzzwords. Not the venture-backed promises. Actual, measurable improvements in how they operate day to day.
Take the landscaping company I recently spoke with. They used to spend hours every week categorizing transactions in QuickBooks. Now, with AI, that work happens in seconds — and with better accuracy. A local HVAC company caught an overbilling issue they never would have spotted on their own, thanks to automated anomaly detection. These aren’t pipe dreams. This is AI showing up where it matters most — in the margins of everyday business.
What’s becoming clear is that AI isn’t just for the tech giants anymore. It’s becoming a lifeline for small businesses trying to stay competitive. It’s helping them reduce costs, uncover actionable insights, and reclaim time they desperately need to actually run their businesses — not just manage them.
But there’s also a warning here: the early adopters are pulling away.
There’s a widening gap between businesses that are embracing AI-powered solutions and those that are still stuck with manual processes, spreadsheets, or rigid rule-based systems. And that gap isn’t theoretical — it’s showing up in profitability, efficiency, and customer experience.
At Uplinq, we’re working to close that gap. We believe intelligent automation should be accessible to the businesses that need it most — not just the ones that can afford an in-house IT team or data scientist.
So if you’re a small business owner — or work closely with one — now is the time to take AI seriously. Not because it’s trendy, but because it’s practical. Because it’s here. And because it’s already changing the game for businesses just like yours.
The AI revolution isn’t coming. It’s already here.
