How small teams are already using AI<\/h2>\n
The accompanying report, titled Small Businesses, Bigger Capabilities<\/em>, draws on usage data and owner experiences to show what AI is handling for small businesses today. A few findings stand out.<\/p>\n In a single week in September, approximately 4 million employees at companies with fewer than 500 people used OpenAI’s products. Nearly one in five of those users worked at a business with fewer than 10 employees, a reminder that the smallest teams are adopting these tools at meaningful rates.<\/p>\n The share of agentic output (the units that AI models process and generate) for products like ChatGPT Work and Codex rose to two-thirds of all small business output tokens in August, up from just one-third in April 2026. That shift suggests small teams are moving beyond simple questions and toward tasks where AI takes on multi-step work on its own.<\/p>\n Finance and accounting, supply chain, legal and compliance, and marketing each accounted for at least three times as large a share of small-business users’ interactions with AI agents as they did for larger-business users. These are areas where a small team may need help without having a dedicated specialist on staff, and where AI can fill a gap that would otherwise force owners to leave work undone.<\/p>\n The report includes concrete stories of how owners are putting AI to work. One restaurant group in New Mexico used ChatGPT Work to compare competitors’ menu prices before updating their own pricing, an analysis that helped them avoid increases which would have made some items uncompetitive. Without the tool, the owners say they would have skipped the comparison entirely.<\/p>\n Another owner used ChatGPT Work to research school districts in South Texas and prepare tailored outreach, which she reviewed and sent herself. She reports booking a paid training session within ten days of starting that outreach, illustrating how AI can support a sales motion that a solo operator might not have time to run.<\/p>\n The SBDC partnership extends a series of efforts to bring AI support to small businesses. In November 2025, OpenAI Academy teamed up with DoorDash, SCORE, and local business organizations for Small Business AI Jams in five U.S. cities, giving owners hands-on help with marketing, customer communications, and everyday operations. In July 2026, a ChatGPT for small business program was introduced, adding training and resources to help owners use AI at work.<\/p>\n The SBDC collaboration differs in one key way: it routes support through advisors who already have trusted relationships with owners in their communities. Throughout the pilot, follow-up will track what is helping, what owners continue using, and where they still need more support. Those findings will shape the training and resources developed next.<\/p>\n For owners wondering how to make AI useful without spending weeks on trial and error, this is the kind of structured, local help that can shorten the learning curve. A trained advisor who understands both the tools and the realities of running a small business is positioned to recommend starting points that actually save time, whether that means comparing prices, drafting outreach, or untangling a finance workflow.<\/p>\n It is a collaboration announced by OpenAI to train around 150 Small Business Development Center advisors through the OpenAI Academy, with a goal of reaching at least 1,000 small businesses through in-person workshops and additional one-on-one advising.<\/p>\n According to the accompanying report, approximately 4 million employees at companies with fewer than 500 people used OpenAI’s products in a single week from September 9 to 15. Nearly one in five of those users worked at a business with fewer than 10 employees.<\/p>\n Finance and accounting, supply chain, legal and compliance, and marketing each accounted for at least three times as large a share of small-business users’ interactions with AI agents as they did for larger-business users, according to the report.<\/p>\n The free listing check scores how visible a business is to AI search and shows what its listing looks like to the engines people ask. Open the free listing check<\/a>.<\/p>\nReal examples from small business owners<\/h2>\n
How this builds on prior programs<\/h2>\n
FAQ<\/h2>\n
What is the OpenAI and America’s SBDC partnership?<\/h3>\n
How many small business employees are already using OpenAI’s tools?<\/h3>\n
What tasks are small businesses using AI for?<\/h3>\n
Related coverage<\/h2>\n
\n
Try the free listing check<\/h2>\n
![\"BizScoreAI,](\"https:\/\/bizscoreai.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/BizScoreAI-Social-image.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n