“We need to adopt AI, but...” Eight in 10 SMEs have no plan at all

[Financial News] Awareness of the need for domestic small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to adopt artificial intelligence (AI) is high, but a significant gap remains between recognizing that need and actually adopting AI. The main obstacles cited were the financial burden and a lack of capability to use AI.
According to the “2026 Survey on AI Adoption and Use by SMEs,” released on the 2nd by the MAINBIZ Association, 71.4% of responding companies said AI adoption and use were necessary to secure competitiveness and achieve sustained growth. However, only 17.6% were drawing up concrete plans to expand and advance their use of AI within the next two years. 
 A considerable number of companies were considering AI adoption but had not moved on to implementation. Among respondents, 33.6% said they recognized the need to adopt AI but had no concrete plan. Another 18.9% said they were exploring the tasks, technologies and solutions to which they could apply it.
 The challenges companies faced in adopting AI varied by stage. At the consideration and preparation stage, the most common response, at 49.2%, was that it was difficult to find suitable AI use cases. Another 31.6% cited uncertainty about the expected benefits and returns on investment. In other words, companies found it difficult to determine whether adopting AI would actually improve work efficiency or profitability.
 At the system development and validation stage, the most common difficulty, cited by 44.6%, was modifying systems to suit the nature of their work. Another 38.5% said they struggled to integrate AI with their existing systems and data. The findings showed that barriers arise not only when adopting AI solutions, but also when adapting them to existing work environments.
 At the actual-use stage, costs were cited as the biggest problem. The most common response, at 47.1%, was that additional expenses such as usage fees and maintenance costs were burdensome. Another 37.3% said they lacked the capability to review AI-generated outputs and use them in their work.
 Accordingly, the policy support SMEs said they needed most was also focused on easing the financial burden. The largest share, 67.4%, wanted support for the costs of adopting and setting up AI solutions. This was followed by assessments and consulting for AI adoption (45.6%), information and matching services for suitable AI solutions and suppliers (44.3%), and support for building data and systems (35.5%).
 Some 56.0% said they needed AI specialists. As for how to secure the necessary personnel, the largest share, 50.4%, favored training existing employees to take on AI-related roles. The findings suggest strong demand for building a foundation for AI use by developing existing employees’ capabilities rather than hiring dedicated specialists. A total of 58.0% said they would be willing to participate if AI support programs suited to their company’s circumstances were made available.
 Based on the survey findings, the MAINBIZ Association stressed that expanding AI use among SMEs would require tailored support that takes into account each company’s level of readiness and the characteristics of its work.
 A MAINBIZ Association representative said, “Although awareness of the need for SMEs to adopt AI is high, there are many practical difficulties in applying it to actual work and achieving results,” adding, “We need to expand the foundation for AI use and improve SMEs’ productivity and competitiveness through policy support tailored to companies’ stage of adoption and on-the-ground needs.”

[email protected] Lee Jumi Reporter