The AI gap on Main Street is real. It’s also closable.
74% of small businesses surveyed now use or are piloting AI, but smaller and lower-revenue businesses trail. A new Homebase survey shows what would help the rest start.
Small businesses are adopting AI quickly, but not evenly. Homebase’s 2026 Main Street AI Gap Report, published September 22, surveyed 750 owners, executives and managers at small businesses with 5 to 499 employees and hourly teams. (Homebase sells scheduling and payroll software, so these are its own survey figures.)
Who is adopting
74% of those surveyed now use or are piloting AI, up from 64% in 2025. Adoption rises with size and revenue:
- 57% at businesses with 5 to 9 employees, versus 84% at 50 to 99 employees.
- 54% at businesses under $500K in annual revenue, versus 81% at $5M or more.
What adopters see
Among businesses using AI, 89% report a positive overall business impact, 87% say it has saved them time, and 74% say it has made running the business less stressful. It does not take a big budget: the most common monthly AI spend is $41 to $150, and 13% pay nothing extra because they use AI features already built into tools they have.
Looking ahead one to two years, owners and managers are more than twice as likely to expect AI to help their business grow (49%) than to reduce the number of employees they need for certain tasks (22%).
What would help the rest start
62% of non-adopters say they are still interested, and only 20% have looked into specific tools. When asked what would move them, they named:
- Knowing their data is secure (37%).
- Seeing evidence it saves money (33%).
- Knowing a person remains in control and can override the AI’s decisions (31%).
- Seeing evidence it saves time (30%).
In other words, they are asking for proof it works and for a person in charge.
What Forjance is doing
Forjance’s AI team is already at work inside real businesses, handling the day-to-day: customer replies, reports to the owner, social content and marketing documents.
- Private to your business. It is set up around your company and the way your people talk.
- You stay in control. Nothing goes out until a person on your side approves it.
- See it on your own task. Bring something you’ve been meaning to get done to a walkthrough and see what the team produces.
The gap is closable. Start with one task. Forged, not found.