SMEs are the future of Artificial Intelligence

When I first joined the AI business world, I was overwhelmed by the multiple machine-learning models developed. It felt like there was a solution to every problem. The feeling never left, but my understanding of data analytics and artificial intelligence's incredible resources has changed as I grew in my work. As a firm believer in social justice and equity, I have found in the development of AI-powered tools an endless energy source to revolutionise the world.

The first revolution undertaken was levelling the playing field for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and minority-owned businesses as they share the same struggles regarding resources and support. Both need to work harder and smarter to attain success.

The context is fairly simple to understand. In today's business world, having access to advanced data analytics tools is becoming increasingly important for companies of all sizes. As a small business owner, you can easily be disadvantaged compared to your bigger counterparts. Large enterprises have the resources to invest in a team of people and expensive data analysis software. To compete on equal footing, you need to cut the cost somewhere, and it's a hard choice to make: will you cut down the quality of your analysis or the time you spend on it?

The choice is way easier to make with automation tools based on new and innovative technologies like Natural Language Processing (or NLP). You can keep the quality and reduce the hours. We live in a fast-paced era where trained machine-learning models can provide rich technical expertise and answer the needs of small businesses which are not looking to replace their manpower but to expand it. We all use NLP daily in language translation, autocorrect, spellcheck, smart search or predictive text.

I deeply feel it is our mission to strengthen the market as a whole and help business owners all over to create and defend their best business. It changed our thinking about the market and building our products. Knowledge and data work must be the job of managers and business officers. It's past time we automate tedious and repetitive research tasks to computational power, redirecting all this energy to critical thinking and problem-solving. Our past experience handling large volumes of legal documents offered us unmatched expertise in designing LegalTech solutions. And we couldn't be more proud of the levels we're getting in the model's understanding of semantic nuances, sensible data extraction and accuracy.

According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, "AI can affect and benefit SMEs in two ways: by altering their business environment and easing the conditions under which they do business, or by enabling them to change their business models and practices, which could ultimately allow them to increase productivity and outreach, and scale-up". Small businesses don't have to punch above their weight anymore. They can pitch or tender for a significant opportunity and bring it home.

But one might ask, why is it essential to create a fair fight for small and minority-owned businesses?

Apart from good sense, small businesses are the closest reflection the business world has to current society. They're a force to be reckoned with. When using technology effectively, they earn twice as much revenue per employee and experience nearly four times the annual revenue growth compared to their peers. They are also three times more likely to create jobs the following year and make a significant economic contribution. For example, research by the Federation of Small Businesses shows that ethnic minority businesses (EMBs) in the UK contributed £25 billion to the economy in 2018, equivalent to the economic output of Greater Manchester.

SMEs and EMBs also tend to be younger, more dynamic, and tech-savvy, looking for credible ways to bend technology. They're pushing a faster and better development of automated tools. NLP-powered tools can automate repetitive and time-consuming tasks, allowing small businesses to focus on more critical and value-added work. This can help them increase their overall efficiency and productivity, leading to improved performance and better outcomes. In the legal field, for example, it means fewer hours reading contracts and more time spent on negotiation and deal-making.

NLP is also a game-changer for businesses that can only invest in a few areas of expertise. Data-driven insights help decision-makers take better and more informed decisions. A real-life example is no more signing harmful or disadvantageous contracts. Get your agreements proofread by models trained to identify and locate dangerous clauses to your business.

Finally, offering less expensive solutions destined for SMEs to larger enterprises will improve employees' work environment, mainly those dedicated to challenging soul-sucking tasks. With a growing number of junior and female associates massively leaving the legal profession because of burnout and lack of recognition, it's time to take some efficient countermeasures.

Almost a year ago, I co-signed an article titled "AI is not only for big business", detailing the opportunities for smaller companies to use machine-learning tools adequate to their needs. Today, I'd like to write that the game has changed, and small businesses and Artificial Intelligence products must be codependent to survive and evolve more fairly. Both are vital tools for diversity, empowering minorities, promoting economic growth and creating jobs in underserved communities to foster a more inclusive and dynamic business world, ultimately benefiting us all.