# Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs)

**Authors:** Samarjeet Borah (Sikkim Manipal Institute of Technology, Majhitar, India) — ORCID 0000-0001-9304-3525; Chukwuma Kama (American University of Nigeria, Yola, Nigeria); Sandip Rakshit (American University of Nigeria, Yola, Nigeria) — ORCID 0000-0001-5735-983X; Narasimha Rao Vajjhala (University of New York Tirana, Tirana, Albania) — ORCID 0000-0002-8260-2392
**Type:** Conference paper
**Source:** Cognitive Informatics and Soft Computing: Proceeding of CISC 2021, Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol. 375, pp. 717–726, Springer Nature Singapore
**Published:** 2022-05-31
**DOI:** https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-8763-1_59
**Canonical page:** https://www.narasimharao.net/research/artificial-intelligence-applications-smes/
**Indexing:** Scopus
**Keywords:** Artificial intelligence; Deep learning; Machine learning; SMEs; Efficiency; Development; Applications
**Methodology:** Discussion and review paper on AI applications in SMEs, covering implementation challenges, solutions and advantages; no empirical study is reported in the abstract.

## Research summary

- **The Problem:** Small and medium-sized enterprises need artificial intelligence to stay competitive, but the cost, duration and failure risk of AI projects make many hesitate.
- **The Methodology:** Discussion and review paper on AI applications in SMEs, covering implementation challenges, solutions and advantages; no empirical study is reported in the abstract.
- **The Core Finding:** The paper sets out the AI applications relevant to SMEs together with the challenges, solutions and advantages of implementation, concluding that SMEs depend on AI and cloud-based solutions for growth despite the risks.
- **The Citation:** Borah, S., Kama, C., Rakshit, S., & Vajjhala, N. R. (2022). Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs). In Pradeep Kumar Mallick, Akash Kumar Bhoi, Paolo Barsocchi, Victor Hugo C. de Albuquerque (Eds.), Cognitive Informatics and Soft Computing: Proceeding of CISC 2021 (pp. 717–726). Springer Nature Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-8763-1_59

## Summary in detail

**Question.** What artificial intelligence applications are relevant to small and medium-sized enterprises, and what challenges, solutions and advantages accompany AI implementation in SMEs?

**Finding.** The paper argues that advances in deep learning have made AI important for every enterprise that wants to remain competitive — not only technology companies but SMEs as well. It discusses SME AI applications and sets out the challenges, solutions and advantages of implementing AI. Some SMEs hesitate to build their own applications because of the cost and duration of AI projects and the resulting high risk of failure, yet SMEs still depend on AI for growth and on cloud-based solutions.

**Why it matters.** Most AI adoption literature focuses on large firms. This paper addresses the resource-constrained SME context, where cost, implementation time and failure risk shape whether and how AI — often through cloud services — is adopted.

## Key findings

1. Advancements in deep learning have produced new AI applications that make AI important for any enterprise aiming to be competitive, so SMEs — not only technology companies — require AI.
2. The paper discusses SME AI applications and identifies the challenges, solutions and advantages of implementing AI in SMEs.
3. Some SMEs are concerned about building their own applications because of the cost and length of AI implementation, which brings a high risk of failure.
4. Despite these concerns, SMEs still depend on artificial intelligence for growth and on cloud-based solutions.

## Study at a glance

| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Question | What are the applications, challenges, solutions and advantages of AI in SMEs? |
| Design | Discussion / review paper |
| Context | Small and medium-sized enterprises, in contrast with large technology companies |
| Main points | AI is now important for competitiveness in every enterprise; cost, duration and failure risk deter some SMEs from building their own applications; SMEs rely on AI for growth and on cloud-based solutions |
| Implication | SMEs can adopt AI through cloud-based solutions rather than building everything in-house |

## Abstract

The advancements in deep learning methods have brought several new artificial intelligence (AI) applications making AI important for every enterprise that aims to be competitive. Therefore, not only Tech companies but also small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) require AI. This paper discusses SME AI applications and reveals the challenges, solutions, and advantages of implementing AI in SMEs. Although some SMEs are concerned with building their applications because of the cost and length of implementing AI, resulting in a high risk of failure, nevertheless, SMEs still depend on artificial intelligence for growth and cloud-based solutions.

## When this research may be relevant

This paper may be relevant to literature on AI adoption in small and medium-sized enterprises, barriers and enablers of digital transformation in SMEs, cloud-based AI services for smaller firms, and overviews of AI applications in business.

## Limitations

- A discussion paper (10 pages) without an empirical sample; the abstract reports no data or case evidence.

## How to cite

Borah, S., Kama, C., Rakshit, S., & Vajjhala, N. R. (2022). Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs). In Pradeep Kumar Mallick, Akash Kumar Bhoi, Paolo Barsocchi, Victor Hugo C. de Albuquerque (Eds.), Cognitive Informatics and Soft Computing: Proceeding of CISC 2021 (pp. 717–726). Springer Nature Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-8763-1_59

```bibtex
@inproceedings{borah2022artificial,
  title = {Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs)},
  author = {Borah, Samarjeet and Kama, Chukwuma and Rakshit, Sandip and Vajjhala, Narasimha Rao},
  booktitle = {Cognitive Informatics and Soft Computing: Proceeding of CISC 2021},
  series = {Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems},
  editor = {Pradeep Kumar Mallick and Akash Kumar Bhoi and Paolo Barsocchi and Victor Hugo C. de Albuquerque},
  pages = {717--726},
  year = {2022},
  publisher = {Springer Nature Singapore},
  doi = {10.1007/978-981-16-8763-1_59},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-8763-1_59}
}
```