This report examines how European digital small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) judge whether AI is worth the investment. It is based on 20 interviews with representatives of digital SMEs in 12 EU Member States, carried out between late April and July 2026. All of the companies were already using AI, either in their own work or in their products and services.
The companies mainly see AI as a way to help their existing staff do more. Teams can take on more projects and a wider range of tasks, and several companies report better-quality work. None of the companies reported job losses due to AI, although several have delayed or avoided hiring. AI also helps small firms appear credible to customers, investors and partners, and some say it has given them access to new projects.
These benefits have not yet shown up in profits. No participant reported that AI had made their company more profitable, and productivity gains are often based on informal estimates. Subscriptions are usually cheap, but testing, data preparation, integration, training, security, maintenance and checking AI outputs all add to the cost. One interviewee summed it up: “I can’t see an economic benefit; it’s a cost.”
Companies keep investing anyway, expecting returns and fearing they will fall behind. Many rely on large technology providers, which leaves them exposed to rising prices and costly switching, and raises concerns about data protection and EU compliance. The report concludes that the economic benefits of AI for SMEs remain uncertain, while the benefits for the Big Tech companies they depend on look far more secure.
This publication can be downloaded from Zenodo.
Authors: Loredana Bucseneanu, Jason Kalathas, Alexandros Minotakis, Molly Newell, and James Steinhoff
