Blockchain and AI integrations in SMBs were evident in 2023, and their influence has continued to spread across enterprises globally in 2024 as well. With the global business blockchain adoption rate standing at 10%, it is likely that small businesses are on their way to catch up to large conglomerates.

The credit for this newfound confidence goes to the introduction — and simplification — of AI (artificial intelligence), which happened near the end of 2022. New language models arrived in early 2023, like GPT-4, making using AI easier and empowering small-scale enterprises to interact with AI easily.

This ease of AI interaction resulted in a new digital era starting to unfold. Multiple AI blockchain tools came into vogue, offering small companies a way to achieve efficiency in terms of operation and scalability in terms of growth.

Let’s take a look at what transformation took place and which tools enabled it.

How Blockchain And AI Brought Small Businesses And Large Conglomerates Onto The Same Playing Field

There was a time when AI technologies were only accessible to large conglomerates. The reason? Cost-related concerns and knowledge barrier. However, this has changed now, inclusive of all businesses.

Knowledge that was too technical to understand for any level of staff is now simplified. Technologies that were too costly to integrate are now affordable. These changes in accessibility are all thanks to AI-friendly tools powered by blockchain technologies.

Such new tools are easy to interact with because they don’t require experts anymore. Developers have peeled away their complications, allowing small businesses to easily integrate them. Let’s take a deeper look at a few snippets to understand how things have changed in the past year and could affect various industries in 2024.

Altering The Way Supply Chain Management Is Done

With blockchain technology being accessible for optimizing supply chain management, people have started to understand the shortcomings of centralized systems. While cost efficiency and improved visibility allowed these systems to prosper, decision-making bottlenecks, reduced flexibility, and communication challenges led people to look for decentralized solutions.

Blockchain’s decentralized, traceable, and transparent nature has helped businesses engage with supply chain management more efficiently. Thanks to blockchain and smart contracts, small businesses have access to improved quality control, traceability, and transparency.

Moreover, AI has harnessed the abundance and authenticity of data available via blockchain to predict demand, improve inventory management, and identify potential disruptions. The merger of the two technologies helps create a secure and transparent ecosystem for small businesses.

Multiple blockchain powered tools made use of this innovation. Companies like Circulor and IBM Chain are being used heavily in complex industrial supply chains. These tools are being used to not only add more efficiency to supply chain management, but also to develop trusting and stronger relationships between organizations.

Transforming Customer Relations And Marketing

While legacy systems have been optimal for customer relations and marketing, they rely heavily on guesswork. The time it takes to get accurate market details is high, and even then often becomes a matter of trial and error. Therefore, many small businesses have started to look for automated solutions for customer relations and marketing.

One type of leading AI tool that has seen an increase in demand is the chatbot. Their demand increased among small businesses throughout 2023 because chatbots offer a cost-efficient way to increase customer interaction. Further growth is also apparent, according to a study by Gartner
IT
, which revealed that chatbots may become a primary customer service channel by 2027 for more than a quarter of organizations worldwide. Demandsage reported that 87% of customers react positively to chatbots.

However, chatbots aren’t the only AI tools that have seen an increase in demand. Other AI-powered marketing applications that leverage blockchain to provide personalized recommendations to customers have also become more popular this year among SMBs. These tools have empowered small businesses with a more nuanced approach to customer relations and marketing that involves more precision and less guesswork.

Tools like Lightning platform, and myTrailhead are being heavily leveraged by Salesforce
CRM
in order to add robustness to its existing CRM (Customer Relationship management) technologies.

Adding Precision And Transparency To Data Analytics

In 2020, the SCORE association reported that only 45% of small businesses were using data analytics. The reason was lack of access to affordable tools that offered both precision and transparency.

Fast forward to 2024, and many of these now have access to affordable AI tools that can analyze large data sets, extracting valuable information. These tools help SMBs improve their business strategies to reach the target audience quicker and make key business decisions in an informed manner.

Blockchain plays its role in maintaining the integrity of these data sets, which sets the stage for precise data analysis.

Companies like Assisterr and ChainGPT started to gain traction thanks to using an AI+blockchain merger to provide simplified and precise data analytics services in the Web3 space. The ease at which these tools can be leveraged have boosted the adoption rate of blockchain in SMBs.

Simplifying Financial Transactions And Budgeting

Through blockchain, small businesses can simplify their financial transactions in a hassle-free setting. These transactions are secure, transparent, and tamper-resistant, thanks to the blockchain-enabled ledger.

AI’s role in financial transactions comes during financial planning and budgeting. Enova, for instance, is a new AI tool that uses deep learning to provide advanced financial analytics and credit assessment services to users.

From making supply chain management more transparent to helping small businesses maintain their financial integrity via integration of smart contracts, the perks of the marriage between AI and blockchain are many.

Observing the transformative impact of emerging tech, LeadNinja.ai CEO Gene Slade shared, “I am excited about the potential that technologies like blockchain hold for the future. Blockchain has the profound capability to elevate businesses in so many ways, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, by upping operational efficiency and enhancing security. In 2024, it will be crucial to focus on innovations that not only align with, but also significantly amplify, user experiences and business operations.”

But are there only positives to be found in this transformation?

The Ignored Human Cost Of AI Adoption In Small Businesses

While the perks that the technological fusion of blockchain and AI brings are commendable, we cannot ignore the human costs.

As AI simplifies mundane tasks and further enhances a business through blockchain integration, a harrowing detail flies under the radar: People are losing their jobs.

According to a recent study by the Institute of Labor Economics, 1.8 million jobs were lost to AI in 2023 alone. Compared to 2022, that’s a 15% increase.

However, these are just the stats of what has already happened. People’s fears about the future of AI are even more pronounced: Over 30% of workers worldwide feel they will soon be replaced by AI. In India, this fear is prevalent among 70% of the workforce. In fact, a survey by Resume Builder revealed that 1 in 3 companies may replace employees with AI in 2024 globally, with the trend predicted to continue in the coming years.

High adoption of AI and simplification of AI technologies has exacerbated such fears.

Automation is one of the primary reasons cited for this job loss. With AI-enabled tools getting faster, more precise, and more efficient than humans, small companies are moving towards greener pastures.

Furthermore, the increased effectiveness of deep learning has altered how AI is perceived. Even customer support jobs, which often require a human element on the other side, have found AI chatbots to be more efficient.

However, that’s not to say that everything will grow dark for the little guy with the rise of blockchain and AI in small businesses.

AI And Blockchain Adoption Will Grow, And Job Losses Will Rise, But There Is Still A Way To Survive

The increasing accessibility of AI and blockchain in businesses means that there is an adoption surge coming. And as the technology grows, its influence will permeate across multiple elements of these organizations, ultimately resulting in more job losses in 2024.

As technology continues to shape the landscape of our businesses, we are presented with a choice: Either allow it to shape our enterprises along a linear path, ignoring the human cost, or embrace innovation.

Fortunately, innovation is the route most enterprises have adopted. New job opportunities are cropping up focusing on AI and human interaction. While ChatGPT was seen as a threat to human jobs — and still is — positions like Prompt Writer are coming from companies willing to pay high salaries. This innovation shows that professions that focus on leveraging AI tools are on the rise, while companies are welcoming humans to continue to fulfill those roles.

“Thanks to ChatGPT, prompt writing is now a highly valued skill. A tech company is offering $300,000/year to hire a prompt writer,” tweeted Mushtaq Bilal, a PhD holder and researcher at the University of Southern Denmark.

Other professions, such as Machine Learning (ML) Engineering, NLP (Natural Language Processing) Research, Business Intelligence Development, and more, are also emerging thanks to the rise of AI adoption worldwide.

While the emergence of new professional venues is commendable, the truth remains clear as day that not everyone will be willing or able to adapt to this change. Jobs will still be lost.

Thankfully, there is a way to help the average man make ends meet: Universal Basic Income (UBI). Crypto entrepreneurs are now pioneering and experimenting with this concept. Projects like Hedge for Humanity, Swift Demand, and Worldcoin
WLD
are driving toward the purpose of making UBI feasible.

These groups aim to help address income equality in social welfare regimes and help people survive at a time when their professional future might be in disarray.

What Lies Ahead For AI And Blockchain Adoption In Small Enterprises?

A survey conducted in companies across the US, UK, and China revealed that over 87% of organizations intend to invest in blockchain in some capacity in 2024. This level of growth and adoption of blockchain AI tools could transform small companies, empowering them to thrive in the global business arena.

These companies can now leverage blockchain’s transparent ledger and AI’s automated output for better supply chain management, better customer service and marketing, and more precision when it comes to analyzing data.

The human cost of this newfound adoption, however, cannot be ignored. Job losses are on the rise as enterprises move to more efficient models provided by AI.

But amidst this transformation new professions, like Prompt Engineer, have emerged. These professions leverage the interaction between AI and humans, giving job seekers new venues to pursue.

How much this blockchain and AI-led disruption will transform the future of businesses, we can’t know. What we do know, however, is that when that future arrives, the key to survival will be innovation — a human trait that AI can’t replace.