AI Adoption is Accelerating Among Small Businesses

The numbers tell a clear story. Small-business generative AI use has grown from 23% in 2023 to 40% in 2024 and 58% in 2025. Even more striking: the share of small businesses using AI regularly jumped from 48% in mid-2024 to 77% by January 2026. You are not too late. Most businesses are still learning. That is precisely why a controlled start is more defensible than either a rushed transformation or another year of observation. Among all sectors, professional services leads with 34.2% adoption—second only to Information. If you are in accounting or advisory, your industry is already ahead of most others. The practical implication: You have time to learn deliberately, but not infinite time to wait.