2026 Survey AI for SMBs: Closing the Readiness-Reality Gap

Commissioned by SAS

A new global survey of 1,600 small and midsize business leaders shows a gap between AI ambition and action. See where your organization stands on the AI maturity scale, then take the AI readiness assessment to get a clear path forward.

The AI readiness gap is widening

A small group of SMBs has moved beyond experimentation – aligning AI strategy with business goals, building clean data foundations and embedding it into daily workflows with clear metrics. The rest are still running pilots without a path to scale.

That distance is growing. The longer it takes to act, the harder it becomes to catch up.

Now is the time to close the gap.

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