vcita is out this week with a new report that confirms and quantifies what we’ve largely observed and suspected: SMBs want automation. Known as the 2026 Small Business Adoption Report, this vcita report points to heightened demand levels for anything that can help SMBs automate marketing and operations.
Whether we’re applying buzzwords and acronyms (AI) or good-old ‘automation,’ SMBs want it. Contrasting other emerging-tech cycles, AI carries advantages in addressing tangible SMB pain points. These pain points include a lack of time, interest, and aptitude to be marketers and software experts.
By automating functions like lead response, marketing copy, and basic SEO rote work, AI tools are being embraced with SMB open arms. Beyond just automating these functions and saving SMBs lots of time, AI is starting to lessen the software tools that they need, which can streamline their technical debt.
“AI is no longer experimental for small businesses,” vCita CEO Itzik Levy told Localogy Insider. “45% of SMBs are using it, and 40% rely on it daily to automate operations. At vcita, we see that the winners will be SMB service providers who deliver AI as core infrastructure that drives real business results.”
Less is More
So what did the report uncover, and what are the specific findings that back up the above takeaways? Here’s a sampling of data points we extracted.
- 42% of SMBs admit they could not survive without their digital tools
- 69% of SMBs are using at least one automation tool to save time.
- 40% of SMB AI users use it on a daily basis to impact their business.
- Increased AI adoption has allowed SMBs to lessen the number of software tools they’re using: Specifically, the percentage of SMBs using between two and four tools has dropped from nearly 66% in 2023 to 59% since 2024.
- 43% of SMBs would pay more for a solution if it reduced the total number of tools they use.
- 87% of SMBs use automation for billing, invoicing, and payment collection
- 38% of SMBs plan to improve their payment collection this year.
- 68% of users prefer to extensively test AI before letting it run autonomously.
Arm Wrestle
These vcita report results are telling – not only in their snapshot of SMB AI sentiment, but in how fast it’s evolving. For example, one thing that jumped out was AI’s use in billing, invoicing, and procurement. These are functions that SMBs were previously reticent to automate, according to our research from just last year.
Specifically, SMBs at the time were interested in AI but to phase it in, starting with low-stakes functions. This excluded accounting and finance functions, due to their high-stakes importance and sensitivity. To be fair, vcita’s results likewise show SMBs’ current preference to test extensively before deploying.
All the above speaks to trust issues that AI continues to have – and understandably so. But like many other emerging-tech cycles before it, these trust issues can be alleviated over time through acclimation. And that appears to be playing out rapidly with AI, given this lastest vcita report data and others we’ve examined.
Bottom line: AI’s automation benefits are tangible and resonant with SMBs. And the magnitude of those benefits can outweigh trust issues. That will continue to be the case as these opposing factors arm-wrestle for SMB mindshare. If history is any indication, AI will overcome these countervailing forces.
Join us at Localogy’s L26, where vcita’s CEO, Itzik Levy takes the stage.
