AI Adoption on Main Street: Survey Results & Report

The majority of small businesses are seeking real value from AI tools in their everyday work, but tool providers need to double down on security and accuracy if they want to earn long-term customers.

A recent Homebase survey found that nearly two-thirds (64.7%) of small businesses are already using or piloting AI tools, with adoption rates rising rapidly since AI launched in 2022. That matches the findings from this McKinsey survey, which saw adoption rates go from 55% of respondents in 2023 to 78% in 2025.

Even more striking: 76% of businesses currently using AI described it as "very" or "extremely" valuable to their operations.

In many ways, this represents a fundamental shift in how neighborhood businesses operate. To learn how AI is hitting Main Street in 2025, Homebase ran a survey of owners and managers on AI usage, sentiment, and familiarity.  

Here are the four key takeaways we learned.

NUMBERS WORTH REMEMBERING

• 64.7% of small businesses are already using or piloting AI
• 76% of adopters say AI is "very" or "extremely" valuable
• 68.5% of non-adopters are interested in trying AI
• 71% are familiar with agentic AI that can take action

What this means: Nearly 2 in 3 small businesses are leveraging AI, and only 1 in 10 aren’t expressing interest in testing it.

HOW WE RAN OUR SURVEY

From May 30 to June 11, 2025, we surveyed 828 U.S. decision-makers including owners, directors, and managers overseeing hourly workforces in small businesses with fewer than 200 employees. 

DATA STORY #1: WHO’S LEADING IN SMB AI USAGE

The businesses embracing AI in 2025 aren't necessarily the ones you'd expect. The biggest adopters of the survey were construction and home improvement businesses, followed by retail, food service, and manufacturing.

These are businesses where labor costs and shift coverage create daily challenges—exactly the problems AI can solve through automated project management, hiring, workflow, and shift scheduling tools.

Takeaway: The AI sweet spot appears to be mid-sized small businesses. One-third of adopters surveyed employ 100-200 people, and nearly 60% have at least 50 employees. This suggests AI becomes most valuable once scheduling and payroll complexity outgrow what very small businesses can handle manually.

That being said, we could also be looking at a horseshoe situation. Daily admin complexity absolutely grows once you have dozens of workers on staff, but it could be equally overwhelming for solopreneurs or single-digit teams, making it just as valuable for them.

DATA STORY #2: BUSINESS OWNERS ARE SEEING IMMEDIATE VALUE

Here's what separates this AI wave from previous tech trends: the results are immediate and measurable when it comes to working hours being saved by business owners and individual workers. 

Among businesses already using AI:

• 42.8% describe it as "extremely valuable"
• 32.8% call it "very valuable"
• 18.5% find it "somewhat valuable"

That's 75.6% of adopters seeing clear value so far, which also helps explain another fun data point: People who are right on the edge of giving AI a try. 

Among the 35.3% of businesses not yet using AI:

• 68.5% are interested in trying AI
• 65.3% are comfortable trying new AI tools.

The Takeaway: These aren't businesses testing AI because they feel they should. They're using it because it's solving real problems and delivering tangible results. This builds word-of-mouth that is nudging more than two-thirds of non-adopters towards trying out an AI tool.

Small business owners are more likely to choose the AI tool (or tools) that will help them with an immediate hurdle, which is why many of them might be using tools that are included or offered alongside the platforms they’re already using.

DATA STORY #3: IF CHAT IS KING, AGENTS ARE QUEEN

Perhaps most surprisingly, 71% of small business owners say they're at least "somewhat" familiar with agentic AI—the type that can take action and complete tasks, not just provide information.

Familiarity breakdown:

• 19% are "extremely familiar"
• 25.1% are "very familiar"
• 26.4% are "somewhat familiar"

Why this matters: Small businesses aren't just adopting basic AI tools like ChatGPT for customer service. They understand and are interested in AI that can actually run parts of their business—like scheduling, payroll, and team management.

DATA STORY #4: COMFORT (AND LACK THEREOF)

For such a relatively new addition to our everyday lives, we found that the majority of small business owners using AI are already comfortable and confident with this new class of technology:

• 30.3% are "very comfortable"
• 35% are "somewhat comfortable"
• 16.9% are neutral
• Only 17.8% are uncomfortable

But that final number (and the 35.3% of non-adopters we mentioned before) are worth talking about, because it lets us know where there’s room for improvement.

We asked non-adopters to list the things that are holding them back, and they made their concerns clear:

• Data privacy/security concerns: 61.2%
• Fear of AI making mistakes: 46.9%
• Uncertainty about available tools: 23.1%
• Cost concerns: 20.4%

The Takeaway: Privacy and security concerns are just as important for small businesses as they are for global corporations. An AI tool needs to be as reliable and safe as doing those tasks manually to be worth it for the majority of business owners.

Cost wasn’t as much of a factor as you would think. It stands to reason that if an AI tool is secure and accurate enough to earn the trust and comfort of a small business, it’ll be worth the price of admission once it’s up and running.

LOOKING AHEAD

AI adoption on Main Street is happening every day. Business owners want secure, easy-to-learn solutions for long-time problems, and they’re willing to learn new tools to support their teams.

“Small businesses are adopting AI fast because they’re seeing real, day-to-day impact,” said John Waldmann, CEO and co-founder of Homebase. "We saw more than 10,000 small businesses use our AI-powered assistants within the few weeks after launch. With so much on their plates, tools like our new Hiring and Scheduling Assistants help them reclaim time and build momentum that’s both scalable and sustainable.”

As small businesses bring on more AI-native team members, especially seasonally, we anticipate that adoption will continue to trend upwards. Some businesses will be slower to use AI tools due to knowledge gaps, workflow processes, or generational preferences, but many more are hungry for efficiency.

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