A new statement submitted indicates that 32% of Canada’s small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) have adopted ChatGPT to streamline their processes, have more than doubled compared to last year. The Canadian Business Expenditure Trends account from the business financial services company Float stated that 14% of Canadian SMBs had a subscription in the first quarter of 2023, but that number had leaped to 32% a year later.
CEO and co-founder of Float Rob Khazzam said the level of artificial intelligence implementation is “encouraging”. We’re observing a massive upsurge in focus on automation and AI to expose the effectiveness and output of Canadian workers, Khazzam told BNN Bloomberg in a television discussion. It’s become much more conventional. It was about a little more than a year ago we saw the announcement of ChatGPT that grabbed the world by storm. It was very new then, but now nearly a third of businesses on Float are utilizing it in some form.
Khazzam added that companies are not exploring AI to handle some of the more routine parts of the job, but it can be seen in tasks and responsibilities in every business area. What we are experiencing across an organization, whether it is the CEO, administration, sales, operational, marketing, or engineering, he said. When separated by sector, tech businesses with a ChatGPT subscription leaped from 25% to 50%, while non-tech jumped from 12% to 26%.
The statement also found that companies have maintained their expenditure relatively constant throughout the year, except for advertising, which had doubled. We see still tight-to-the-belt with expenses, but still invest for growth (among) larger businesses and medium-sized businesses that we cater. Khazzam recommended the amplified ad expenditure could be an indication that businesses are about to rebound. It is been nearly two years of a dull business spending environment, he said. Businesses have made the headcount drops … and are now perhaps initiating to accelerate their business.
The statement did find some financial anxiety among the companies, however, as the general average monthly expenditure only climbed by $2,200, a sign of caution according to Float. In the meantime, larger companies are presenting signs of a rebound, as companies with more than $1 million in income saw expenditure jump 37% year-over-year. SMBs are the essence of Canada’s economy, and a vital part of the country’s economic salvage, senior vice-president of operations and financial at Float Andrew Dale, said in the statement. We are observing indications of midmarket and larger businesses spearheading the way in investing for growth, and confident in seeing the microSMB sector follow, accelerating economic development and guaranteeing a more supportable and unbiassed future for all Canadians.
