10 Ways Small Businesses Can Use AI To Grow–And Even Hire More Workers

A quartet of witnesses testifying this week to the House Small Business Committee disputed the commonly-held belief that artificial intelligence will displace human workers and insisted that small businesses which use AI are likely to wind up having to hire more employees–because they’ll grow.

Already, a majority of small businesses are using AI for a wide range of purposes, said Jordan Crenshaw, senior vice president at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Technology Engagement Center. Last year, 58% of small firms nationwide reported using generative artificial intelligence, an increase from 40% in 2024 and 23% in 2023, he told lawmakers. But the real kicker, he added, is that 82% of small businesses that reported using AI had increased their staff headcounts over the past year. “These businesses are not using AI to replace people,” Crenshaw said. “They’re using it to help employees focus on high value work that requires judgment, creativity and relationships.”

Qaiyum also told lawmakers that since his company has begun utilizing AI more heavily, he’s increased his staff by 20%, from 50 to 60 employees. “We look at (AI) as a set of tools to help us increase our capacity and then bring more people on,” Qaiyum said. “Right now, we’re building an AI agent to handle routine accounts payable work that takes one employee more than 20 hours per week, hours we’d rather have her helping with strategic problems to grow our business.”

Qaiyum said Merz Apothecary - which sells health, beauty and grooming products - also relies on AI tools to get analysis of cash flows, track inventory, keep tabs on investments, record expenses, manage payroll, and look out for possible financial risks.

“And we’re still hiring,” Qaiyum said. “We’re at the point now where we'd like to bring someone in who has more experience (with AI) because we see so much opportunity ahead.” Qaiyum repeatedly insisted that AI is a new technological advantage, while “humans are the durable advantage that you have.”

Crenshaw also warned that small businesses will suffer if Congress fails to act on regulating AI, and leaves the issue to the states, which would create a costly national “patchwork” of business rules that smaller firms would be hard-pressed to navigate.

He cited a study from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (a nonprofit think tank that gets much of its support from the tech sector and other big companies). It concluded that without a national set of AI data privacy rules, it will cost the nation roughly $1 trillion over the next decade, with $200 billion of that being borne by the small business community. He also singled out a relatively new California state law, the California Consumer Privacy Act, which underwent rulemaking involving AI after it was signed into law in 2020; Crenshaw said it’s now estimated that it will cost small businesses $16,000 annually to comply with the AI portion of the law.

The bottom line, experts told lawmakers, is that AI will not be able to replace truly human capabilities, but rather should empower workers with new tools to become more efficient, productive and skilled. The four urged Congress to approve more funding for AI literacy training for businesses and workers, and to set up a national regulatory framework for AI models to follow, instead of the current state-by-state regulatory patchwork that is developing in the absence of federal AI rules.

Although the committee took no action on any specific bills or proposals on Tuesday, several House members said they believe it’s important for Congress to approve some type of national regulatory framework for AI and tech companies, along with funding AI literacy programs through the Small Business Administration.

“Our goal is to make every small business and entrepreneur make sure they have the opportunity to succeed in the emerging age of AI,” Committee Chairman Roger Williams, a Texas Republican, said at the outset of Tuesday’s hearing.