AI in the Workplace – Why SMBs Need a Strategy Before They Touch a Tool
Tech Talk for SMBs helps small and medium-sized businesses become informed technology decision makers. The goal of this column is to bust the myths and show SMBs how to make technology work for them. I’m Eric DiFulvio, Co-CEO of MCIT, a local Managed Services Provider (MSP), and I’m here to share practical insights from over a decade of IT leadership and leading digital transformation at enterprise-level businesses. Through this column, I’m thrilled to extend that knowledge to you.
AI is already in your market.
Even if you are not using it yet, your competitors are testing it, your vendors are baking it in, and your customers are being trained to expect faster, smarter service. So, the question is not. “Should we use AI?” The real question is. “How do we adopt AI in a way that actually helps our business instead of creating chaos?” Jumping into tools without a plan is one of the fastest ways for a small or mid-sized business to waste money, frustrate staff, and increase risk.
AI will not fix your problems. It will multiply them.
If your processes are inconsistent, your data is scattered, and nothing is documented, AI will not be able to save you. It will just help you do the wrong things faster.
Think of AI like a power tool.
With a clear plan, it is a game-changer.
Without a plan, it is both dangerous and expensive.
Before you bring AI into the business, you need to decide exactly what you want it to do.
Start with business problems. Not tools.
Too many companies start with. “We should try ChatGPT,” or “Let’s buy a few licenses and see what happens.” That’s backwards. You should be asking:
- Where are people stuck doing repetitive, copy and paste work?
- Where are we slow to respond, quotes, proposals, tickets, emails, scheduling?
- Where are we flying blind? No reliable reporting, no clear view of what is happening
- Where do things live in one person’s head and fall apart when they are out?
Those are the first places AI can help. Once the problem is clear, choosing tools is easy. When the problem is vague, everything looks shiny, and nothing sticks.
A simple AI approach for SMBs
You do not need a 50-page roadmap. You need a practical plan you can execute.
1. Process before AI – Do not automate a mess.
Pick one workflow. Proposals, ticket triage, onboarding, collections. Map the steps, who does what, and where it stalls. Clean it up and standardize it. Only then ask, “Where could AI draft, summarize, or route this better?”
2. Data and security first – AI needs information to be useful. That does not mean it should see everything. Decide what data is in bounds and what is not. Put simple guardrails in place. Policies, permissions, approvals. Train staff on what is safe to share and what is off limits. A small business cannot afford an AI-related mistake with customer or employee data. An AI Acceptable Use Policy is a great first step here!
3. Invest in people, not just licenses – Most failed AI projects are really failed training projects.
Show your team how AI fits into their role. Give clear expectations. When to use it, when not to. Make it clear that roles will change as AI takes on busywork. The goal is not to bolt AI on top of their day. The goal is to redesign the day so people spend more time on judgment and relationships, less on low-value tasks.
4. Tie AI to real results – “Cool demo” is not a business outcome.
Track time saved per task or per person. Reductions in errors, rework, or missed follow-ups. Revenue impact from faster quotes, increased outreach, and improved retention. If you cannot measure it, do not roll it out. Prove value on one process, then expand.
5. Move in phases. Not all at once – You do not have to become an “AI-powered company” in a year, but you do need to move with a purpose. Start with a foundation: policies, training, and one to three high-impact use cases. Then expand to more departments. Then scale with deeper automation, integrations, and reporting. That keeps you from chasing every new shiny tool and lets you build momentum without overwhelming the team.
What this actually looks like
Picture a small company that consistently struggles to submit proposals on time. The owner decides they “need AI,” buys a few licenses, and tells the team to use the new tools to be more productive. A few people try it. A few ignore it. Six months later, proposals are still slow, nobody can explain the value, and AI has turned into just another subscription.
Now flip it. Same company, same constraints. This time, they start by naming the real problem. “Our proposals take too long, and we lose deals.” They sit down and map the process: how requests come in, who gathers information, who writes, and who approves. They identify the bottlenecks, eliminate unnecessary steps, standardize the format, and establish a clear path from request to delivery.
Only then do they bring AI into the mix. It drafts first versions based on a standard template. It turns client notes into clear bullet points. It suggests options or add-ons that the rep might forget. They measure how long proposals used to take compared to now. They track close rates and follow-up speed. Within a few months, proposals go out faster, sales spend more time talking to customers and less time formatting, and leadership can point to real numbers showing the impact.
Same market. Same technology available. One business messes around with tools. The other uses AI as a lever on a specific problem and gets paid for it.
Why this matters now
It is tempting to say. “We are small. We can wait.”
You cannot.
Bigger competitors are already utilizing AI to respond more quickly and operate more efficiently. Smaller competitors are using it to look bigger and more polished than they are. If you ignore AI, you are not staying level. You are sliding backward. If you rush in without a strategy, you are just burning time and money. The path forward is not “no AI” or “AI everywhere.” The path forward is intentional AI.
Start small. Pick real business problems. Protect your data. Train your people. Measure results. Build from there. SMBs that treat AI as a core business decision, not a tech toy, will be the ones that keep up and then pull ahead.
