In the age of agentic AI, one looming question is where and when the technology applies. This is a common question with any emerging tech. In early days, hype-driven narratives proclaim that it’s going to revolutionize everything – which we’re seeing now – before a narrower set of killer apps are refined.
Somewhere in that feeling-out process is a question: where does AI apply to SMBs? The answer is steered – as always – by SMBs’ laggard adoption of emerging tech. See any ad tech for an example of this. Brands adopt first… then SMBs. But some companies are accelerating that trickle-down process.
That’s where vcita comes in. The company has been developing AI tools to alleviate classic SMB pain points. For example, As CEO Itzik Levy demonstrated at the recent L25, SMB marketing workflows include rote components that they often dread, such as writing website copy or marketing emails.
Semi-Automated
vcita addresses these SMB pain points in its BizAI tool. It accomplishes this by plugging into several SaaS functions or apps (think: Slack), which gives it a targeted set of training data to get to know a business. It can then fulfill tasks in more relevant ways – everything from marketing copy to pricing strategies.
Building on that baseline, vcita has added new dimension with its agentic AI function. Housed within BizAI, it offers an additional layer of automation for agent-like features. According to Levy, this includes responding to customers, booking appointments, and generating estimates or job quotes.
One of the goals of the new agentic AI feature, according to vcita is a “semi-automated approach.” This is to balance the benefits of automation with SMBs’ need to feel in control. To that end, AI features can be tuned to various levels of automating customer interactions, while requiring human sign-off.
SMBs can adjust this balance over time as they get more comfortable. That will be a feedback loop that develops as SMBs see AIs benefits play out. The learning curve will vary, with some choosing greater levels of automation than others – as it often goes with the broadly-defined SMB universe.
Loaded Term
Stepping back, another benefit of vcita’s agentic AI function is that it will learn and improve itself over time. This will occur through SMB inputs, guidelines they set, and the collective training as the tool operates across vcita’s 150,000 SMB customers. But per the above, SMBs stay in control.
That last part is critical for SMBs that are still wary of AI. The benefits of automation resonate according to recent Localogy SMB survey data. But “AI” is a loaded term with negative connotations. Though tech & media worlds are enamored by AI, SMBs largely sit outside of tech-world culture.
So the semi-automated approach is smart to let SMBs adopt AI at their own pace. They need to feel like they’re in the driver’s seat… and they don’t yet fully trust AI to hand over the keys. Furthermore, as noted, each SMB is at a different stage of its learning curve and acclimation process.
Altogether, vcita’s seems to hit the mark in terms of the things SMBs want. AI continues to be thrown at everything to see where it sticks, while only some of those integrations have staying power. When it comes to SMBs, saving time and reducing pain are where AI will win. Vcita is aiming for that target.
Localogy members can get a copy of Levy’s L25 presentation slides by contacting us.
