How Small Business Owners Are Using AI to Help Propel Growth

Summary

• Marie Hunter, owner of KRG Oil Company, used an AI agent to develop a blueprint for a new product line of fuel tanks with additional services instead of analyzing costs for customizing existing tanks.
• Hunter's AI agent, named Billi Jean, manages emails, analyzes finances, and prepares strategic growth plans aligned with the company's vision.
• A report by Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses indicates that 42% of program graduates use AI for financial analysis and business planning, a rate more than double that of 2024.
• More than half of the surveyed graduates use AI to develop or research new projects and products.
• Over 85% of survey respondents report using AI in some form, with small businesses accounting for 43.5% of US economic output and 61% of net new job creation.
• The Goldman Sachs Small Business AI Institute aims to guide entrepreneurs through AI adoption and integration to turn experimentation into lasting results.
• Small business owners are applying AI to manage customer service at campgrounds, assist control rooms in petrochemical plants, and design Spanish language lessons for online education.
• Bob McClure, co-owner of McClure's Pickles, integrated large language models into the firm's enterprise resource management program to reduce food recall trace time from 30 to 45 minutes to under two minutes.
• McClure's AI system provides an online dashboard tracking ingredient origins, shipment locations, warehouse inventory levels, and pH or acidity levels.
• McClure also deployed AI applications to monitor production equipment maintenance, draft accounts payable, and review jar labels for accuracy.
• McClure utilizes natural language to engage AI models without needing code training, software licenses, or technician fees.
• Naomi Stone, CEO of an environmental engineering consulting firm, launched a new venture called Enso that uses AI to match companies with surplus materials to buyers who can utilize them.
• Enso uses AI to facilitate matches between coal ash producers and buyers to advance the circular economy and convert waste disposal costs into revenue streams.
• Stone states that AI enables matches between producers and buyers at a speed and scale difficult to achieve manually.
• Marie Hunter instructed her AI agent to compile M&A data and prepare KRG Oil for a potential exit to determine the company's potential valuation.
• Survey data is based on responses from 2,473 Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses alumni who participated in the 2026 Alumni Survey conducted by Babson College from August 10–24, 2026.