Practical, evidence-based guidance from Dan Fitzpatrick on how small and medium-sized businesses adopt AI well: strategy, training, governance and getting real work done.
34 articles
Most staff who avoid AI are not afraid of it; they prefer their own way of working. Start with the chore they would happily give away, never the craft they are proud of, and let the hours saved persuade the rest.
Most small businesses do not need to hire an AI lead yet. Official figures show almost none do. Appoint an AI steward from inside first, give them three duties, and hire only when the work outgrows the time.
Most staff in small and medium-sized businesses already use AI tools nobody approved. Banning them drives the habit underground. Here is the one-week Daylight Rule for bringing shadow AI into the open: ask first, sort every use into keep, move or stop, and supply an approved home before you forbid anything.
AI belongs in small business customer service, but not where most owners start. Here is what customers want, who is liable when a chatbot gets it wrong, and the Promise Rule for deciding what AI may say to a customer.
AI agents act rather than advise: they send, book and update on your behalf. Here is what that changes for a small business, where the pitch outruns the evidence, and a simple test for deciding which errands an agent can take and which must stay with people.
Your business is ready for AI when seven things are in place: purpose, permission, ownership, capability, protection, foundations and evidence. Here is a diagnostic question for each, what strong and weak look like in a small business, and why your readiness is your lowest score, not your average.
Most small businesses have given their teams AI and stopped there. Six mistakes keep access from turning into value; here is the 2025-2026 research behind them and a four-question diagnostic to find where your business is stuck.
Yes, and it should fit on one page. Your staff are probably already using AI on personal accounts. Here is what a small-business AI policy must answer, what UK GDPR, US guidance and the EU AI Act's AI literacy duty mean for you, and what to do this week.
Most AI training changes what a team knows, not what it does. Here is what works for small business teams instead: four things every training plan needs, the evidence behind them, and a 30-day plan a 20-person business can run without a data team.
Most small businesses have tried AI, and few have changed how the work gets done. Dan Fitzpatrick's answer: start with one job, not one tool. How to pick that job, the three rules to write first, and a 30-day plan for a small team.
