On the 28^th of February, I attended Enterprise Nation’s event “Tech Hub: What AI Means for Small Business” at the Google Offices in Kings Cross. This was a great occasion to meet small business owners looking to use AI to improve the performance of their businesses. I also learned a lot more about AI.

The event kicked off with the Minister of Tech and the Digital Economy sharing the projections that AI could contribute £400 billion to the UK economy by 2030. The session that followed was led by an expert from Google Digital Garage and was extremely enlightening. The “Boost Your Productivity with AI” session was a revelation for many, illustrating practical ways AI can be leveraged in everyday business processes. They highlighted that Google Digital Garage offers courses in educating in AI. Additionally, I was surprised that Google Lens is capable of translating language through images.

In the first panel, we joined small business owners who shared their success stories of the use of AI in their business. Ali Shariat of This Way Up shared their journey of using AI to achieve remarkable outcomes, such as securing a deal with Sainsbury. Emma Goode from 24 Fingers highlighted that AI is amazing for research, reporting, and preparation – however, you should rewrite content in your voice since AI doesn’t know your brand voice and image.  Surya Varatharajan, the founder of Yosanie, an AI company that specialises in creating LinkedIn content for businesses, enlightened us on the profitability of AI companies attributed to their low cost and recurring revenue stream. Additionally, he shared the website thereisanaiforthat.com, where various AI products tailored to different functional needs can be found.

The event concluded on a high note with discussions on how tech brands can support businesses in their AI journey. Industry leaders from Sage, Google, Square UK, Vodafone Business, Dell, and Cisco shared their insights, emphasising the use of AI for predictive analysis and its long-standing application across various sectors. It was clear from all future plans that AI will be here to stay, and they will continue to add more generative AI to products to improve customers’ interactions with their products. One profound quote from the panel: “In the future, a surgeon not using AI will be viewed as a butcher”.

Eddy Nsabue, Account Manager at Russam.