Gen Z Prefers Small Businesses That Use AI
A new report from ASUS on the future of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) indicates that Gen Z workers gravitate toward employers offering AI tools and flexible workflows. The report found that 66% of SMB leaders believe AI will cause a significant evolution or generational shift in business practices.
- According to the ASUS report, 65% of leaders at small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) believe that adopting AI is critical to retaining Gen Z talent. - Gen Z's comfort with AI is reshaping workplace dynamics, with 47% of Gen Z employees reporting they get better guidance from AI than their manager. - The push for modern tools is a defining characteristic of Gen Z, who grew up with smartphones and intuitive apps and have less patience for outdated, manual processes in the workplace. - Small business adoption of AI is on the rise, with one 2026 survey showing that 68% of U.S. small businesses now use AI regularly, a significant increase from 48% in mid-2024. - For SMBs, AI is being implemented to automate repetitive tasks like data entry and invoicing, which allows employees to focus on more creative and strategic work. - This generation's expectation for efficient technology extends to a desire for flexibility, with a majority of Gen Z and Millennial workers preferring hybrid or fully remote work arrangements. - Beyond productivity, SMBs are leveraging AI to overcome complexities in cross-border business, with 56.9% adopting the technology to manage linguistic and cultural differences for global expansion. - While embracing AI, Gen Z also expresses concerns, with 68% worrying that offloading cognitive tasks to AI could hinder the development of valuable skills.
