Small Businesses Can Thrive with Agentic AI, but Change Management is Key

A new guide from Salesforce offers insight into what it means to become an 'agentic enterprise,' and how small businesses can achieve this. The guide draws on data from over 2,000 AI decision-makers, including Salesforce's own usage data.

One key takeaway is that small businesses have a significant edge in adopting agentic AI technology. According to the guide, 36% of organizations point to a narrowly scoped use case as their top success factor, indicating that 'start small' is now 'start fast.'

The guide also highlights the importance of change management in implementing agentic AI. While cost was not the top reason initiatives stalled, organizational resistance and lack of AI fluency on the team were major obstacles.

In terms of human oversight, the data shows that agents are designed to work alongside humans, rather than replace them. In fact, teams that get this right see customer satisfaction increase by 29%, resolution times decrease by 31%, and operating costs drop by roughly 29%.