How SMEs can use AI to bridge the resource gap with larger competitors

Even though the integration of AI can seem like a mountain to climb for a structure with limited resources, AI positions small and medium-sized enterprises at a strategic crossroads. Olivier Leroy, head of the data lab in the Paris office of PMP Strategy, explains that to make the most of the “unprecedented opportunities”,  they will need to clearly define a roadmap for change, and recruit the necessary talent.

According to Olivier Leroy, there is a new growing trend in artificial intelligence: the advent of AI agents. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff announced a new global strategy focused on agent-based systems and microservices. This approach will replace the traditional SaaS model (CRM, Analytics, technology stacks) with a massive deployment of autonomous agents – finally helping businesses to get the most from the technology.

He explains, “The goal of Salesforce AgentForce is to deploy 1 billion AI agents by the end of 2025, who will manage tasks without supervision, such as customer segmentation and the launch of associated marketing campaigns, paving the way for large-scale automation. In the same week, Anthropic unveiled their "Computer use" feature, which allows Claude 3.5 (their AI competitor to ChatGPT4o), to take control of a computer to execute tasks.”

Olivier Leroy is the creator and manager of PMP Strategy’s data lab, Lab32. He has driven many analytical projects, mainly on multidimensional data, data visualization and process mining as both project manager with the business teams and as the analytical solution designer. His expertise extends to the design and implementations of systems including relational databases, data visualisation, machine learning, real-time analysis, unstructured data and cloud architecture.

Looking ahead, he foresees a time in which these ‘AI agents’ can make a huge difference for mid-market firms. Companies that place AI and digital at the core of their strategy could have global impact with very small teams – emulating the likes of OpenAI, which has a huge customer base, but only 3,500 employees, and is now valued at $157 billion.

“At the local level, all SMEs can draw inspiration from these models: automating customer acquisition (lead generation, production and distribution of digital content, customer base animation) can have a significant ROI for a budget of $500/month. Another example: creating a strategic monitoring service which tracks new market trends and competition moves is now possible with $5,000 investment in services and a usage cost of less than $100/month, without the need for new (human) resources.”

Adopting these services can enable SMEs to adopt the same technologies as large corporations, bridging the resource gap. It can produce the same amount of content with less expertise, according to Leroy, but only if SMEs navigate some key challenges first. Most commonly, these include the constraints of legacy technology, and the need to recruit new talent. To overcome these obstacles, Leroy cites four fundamental points.

He begins, “Adopt a "North Star" vision, which is the “blue-sky” version of a product (set of features) or a job (set of tasks), while keeping the long-term business goal in mind. Technological integration is a transitional step, not an end in itself. Taking small incremental steps is a good way to go in terms of integration and automation, to avoid over-investing and improve technological know-how.”

Additionally, firms should then recruit a CTO capable of integrating technology into the business objectives. This seasoned technology partner and knowledge architect might seem expensive, but will have their salary offset by the lower cost of “less experienced employees supported by AI assistants” in the wider company – thanks to the implementation of autonomous agents.

SMEs should also seek to develop and integrate continuously. Regularly integrating the latest contributions of new technologies into their firm, they can keep prices down. For example, Leroy notes that optical character recognition technology has “become a very cheap commodity”; but adds that so far, few small businesses use the capability to read PDF documents to retrieve or verify contractual conditions – huge wastes of time and resources when done manually.

Finally, firms should monitor technological trends and identify a method to keep abreast on innovations brought about by exponential technologies. Leroy states it is important to understand that “these technologies converge and are designed to interact without heavy consequences on technical architecture choices”.

Leroy concludes, “By mastering the Cloud, AI, APIs, task automation (and soon, robots), an SME can become remarkably efficient despite limited resources. In contrast, large companies will face the challenge of updating their human resources and maintaining profitability even if they are not able to implement the automated tasks. The adoption of AI and automation is an unparalleled opportunity for SMEs. It enables them to remain competitive by readjusting business models and revising job tasks at the pace recommended by their Chief Technology Officers. tech. It also facilitates cost reductions and increased productivity.”