Do You Actually Need Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Your Business?
If you're not sold on AI for your business, you're not behind. Only about one in four businesses use it right now, so you're still in the majority. But for a lot of owners, the question of whether they need AI already got answered on their software invoice.
In this episode I cover what the adoption numbers actually say, why you hear figures as high as 88%, what happened when companies went all in, and the two things your AI strategy needs before you spend a dollar.
- Why AI is now built into the Microsoft and Google plans you already pay for
- What MIT found when it looked at hundreds of AI projects
- What Klarna learned when it judged AI on cost and missed quality
- The two things your AI strategy needs: a problem you can name, and someone who decides when it's worth it
If you're a business executive looking for an independent strategy advisor, apply for a 30-minute call at https://titanof.tech.
Watch the video version: https://youtu.be/rhVgo70l41s
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Independent fractional CIO for owners of $5M to $50M businesses. Technology and cybersecurity strategy, with no tools to sell, no commissions, and no conflict.
Work with me: https://titanof.tech
Transcript
John Barker (2025): If you're not sold on AI for your
Speaker:business, I have some good news.
Speaker:You're not behind.
Speaker:You're still in the majority as of now.
Speaker:Almost every software company you pay is pushing AI, but look at
Speaker:what the numbers actually say.
Speaker:The Census Bureau asks businesses every two weeks whether they've used AI.
Speaker:In the latest survey at the time of this recording, about one in four said yes.
Speaker:Even among companies with one hundred to two hundred and forty-nine employees,
Speaker:it was about a third this spring.
Speaker:So most businesses still aren't using AI yet, but that
Speaker:number, of course, is growing.
Speaker:At the start of this year, it was fewer than one in five.
Speaker:So it's fine that you're not sold on AI, but you don't wanna be a passive
Speaker:rider and have a purposeful strategy in how you do or don't implement
Speaker:AI in your business, just like you would with any other technology.
Speaker:You may have heard AI numbers a lot higher than one in four, and I'll explain why.
Speaker:Then I'll show you what's actually paying off and the two things you need
Speaker:before you spend a dollar Last fall, a survey from the Small Business and
Speaker:Entrepreneurship Council said 88% of small businesses use AI tools.
Speaker:Now, obviously, that's a long way from one in four, but both can be true.
Speaker:Part of the gap is who they asked, and part of it is what actually is counting
Speaker:as AI because AI is now built into software you already pay for, whether
Speaker:anyone turned that feature on or not.
Speaker:On July 1st, Microsoft raised M365 Business Standard pricing from $12.50
Speaker:to $14 per user per month and pointed it to Copilot, its AI
Speaker:assistant, as part of the reason.
Speaker:Google did the same thing with Workspace last year.
Speaker:Google Business Standard went from $12 to $14 with its Gemini
Speaker:AI built into every business plan.
Speaker:So for a lot of owners, the question, do we need AI, got answered on the invoice.
Speaker:You may already be paying for it.
Speaker:The better question is whether anyone in your company is using what you're
Speaker:actually paying for Now, what about the companies that went all in?
Speaker:Last year, researchers at MIT looked at hundreds of AI projects.
Speaker:They reported that 95% of the organizations they studied
Speaker:saw no measurable return from their generative AI pilots.
Speaker:Some people argued with how they measured it, but the pattern
Speaker:behind it is the useful part.
Speaker:About half the money went to sales and marketing, the visible stuff.
Speaker:The best returns came from automating unglamorous work behind the scenes,
Speaker:like paperwork and outside other types of service companies that
Speaker:they were already paying for.
Speaker:But here's a real example.
Speaker:Klarna, the buy now, pay later company, put an AI assistant on customer service.
Speaker:It handled two-thirds of their chats, and they said it did the work of 700 people.
Speaker:The next year, the CEO told Bloomberg that cost had been too big a factor
Speaker:in the decision and quality suffered.
Speaker:Klarna ended up hiring people back.
Speaker:The tool worked.
Speaker:The problem was how they judged it.
Speaker:They measured cost and they missed out on quality So here's my take.
Speaker:You need an AI strategy for your business, and you can center
Speaker:it around these two things.
Speaker:First, a problem.
Speaker:Not, "We should be using AI," but a real problem in plain English, a task that
Speaker:eats ten hours a week, a cost that keeps going up, a delay your customers notice.
Speaker:If you can't name the problem, you don't need AI yet, and that's a fine answer.
Speaker:When you can name it, start with what's already in your Microsoft
Speaker:or Google subscription before you buy anything new, or worse, start
Speaker:developing something internally.
Speaker:Second, someone who decides when it's worth it.
Speaker:Before you spend anything, somebody has to say what success looks like.
Speaker:Hours saved, dollars saved, a faster turnaround, and quality so you don't
Speaker:learn Klarna's lesson the hard way.
Speaker:Then that person checks the result at 90 days and has the authority
Speaker:to turn it off if it's not meeting those basic guidelines.
Speaker:The last thing you wanna do is invest $50,000 for a $500 type of problem.
Speaker:And that someone shouldn't be the person selling AI to you.
Speaker:Most of the AI advice reaching owners come from companies that make
Speaker:more money when you buy more AI.
Speaker:That doesn't make them wrong.
Speaker:It just means they're not neutral in the decision-making.
Speaker:So do you actually need AI in your business?
Speaker:Maybe not today, maybe in a year, but you should know which problem you'd point it
Speaker:at and whether you're already paying for something that can solve that problem.
Speaker:If you want a second opinion from someone who doesn't sell software or take
Speaker:commissions, apply for a thirty-minute call at https://titanof.tech.
Speaker:I'm John Barker.
Speaker:Be the titan of your tech.
