Small businesses are the backbone of the economy. Now, Google wants them to be AI’s next frontier

For years, AI conversations at major tech events centered almost exclusively on large enterprises, leaving small and medium-sized businesses on the margins of a transformation reshaping the global economy. That dynamic is now shifting fast, as SMB AI adoption moves from cautious pilots to real workflow integration.

SMBs collectively represent the backbone of the U.S. economy, yet have historically lagged larger organizations in cloud and AI uptake due to resource constraints and a lack of dedicated technical expertise. Google LLC is staking that accessible tooling and a strong partner ecosystem can close that gap faster than any previous technology transition, according to Sharon Prosser (pictured), vice president of SMB sales and scaled acquisition at Google LLC.

“There is momentum with a capital M,” Prosser said. “Small-to-medium businesses are quickly emerging as the next frontier for AI adoption. They’ve been discovering AI differently — they haven’t had the deep resources that larger organizations have. It’s been more of a trial-and-error phase for them, a lot of experimentation, a lot of POCs. We’re really starting to move past that phase now and see this wider adoption.”

Prosser spoke with theCUBE’s Rebecca Knight and Alison Kosik at Google Cloud Next, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed SMB AI adoption trends and how Google Cloud is lowering the barrier to entry. (* Disclosure below.)

SMB AI adoption accelerates through familiar tools and partner ecosystems

The path to SMB AI adoption runs directly through tools businesses already use every day, Prosser explained. Google moved its Gemini models into Google Workspace — including Gmail, Docs and Drive — giving tens of millions of small business customers immediate, low-friction access to AI capabilities. That familiarity is proving to be a meaningful on-ramp.

“Last year, we moved Gemini into our Google Workspace products, which gave all of our SMBs — and we’ve got double-digit millions of SMBs using Google Workspace — AI at their fingertips,” Prosser said. “Customers can use Gemini Enterprise as an AI agent platform and they can get it up and running in minutes. They can connect their data and make it accessible to their knowledge workers.”

Real use cases are now emerging that go well beyond productivity shortcuts. Brazilian dairy company Tirol, a 52-year-old SMB, used Gemini Enterprise to build an interactive knowledge bank that democratized supply chain data access for its workers, Prosser noted. Design firm WATG used the same platform to accelerate proposal generation from days down to minutes. When deployments stumble, the root cause is almost always a lack of internal expertise rather than a product limitation — which is why Google’s network of more than 100,000 partners plays a central role in matching SMBs with the right implementation support, she added.

“I would say relative to the enterprise organizations who are a few innings into this game — small to medium businesses, this is their first time at bat,” Prosser said. “The light bulb has to go off quickly for an SMB — every minute counts. Being open to helping us understand their pain points where workflows are maybe a little bit more arduous or paper intensive, and with Gemini Enterprise, it’s a perfect way to kick off the AI experience.”

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of Google Cloud Next:

(* Disclosure: Google sponsored this segment of theCUBE. Neither Google nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE