Most believe AI helps small businesses compete with larger firms

A new survey has found that one in five are secretly using AI at work, even when there’s no official policy for it.

And for many, it’s paying off. 

According to the poll of 1,000 American business owners, marketers, and salespeople, 77% believe the more they use AI tools for work, the more confident they feel in the quality of their work. 

Likewise, 75% believe using AI for their business can make it more effective at competing with larger and more well-known businesses.

Commissioned by ActiveCampaign and conducted by Talker Research, the survey found 82% of respondents who are using AI in the workplace are using it for marketing — either in imagination (52%), activation (48%), or validation (44%). 

Many others are using it for customer support (31%), operations/people management tasks (28%), and product-related tasks (25%).

But despite AI’s usefulness, 20% still feel like they’ve had to “sneak” AI into their work because it’s not officially allowed. Although 48% said they use AI in their work daily, 17% reported they only use AI less than once per month, and an additional 9% “never” use AI in any official work capacity. 

Respondents shared that the main reason they aren’t using AI tools at work is connected to various fears surrounding it. One in five respondents is concerned about poor-quality output, while another 21% of employees, specifically, are concerned that AI will replace their job.

Additionally, 19% fear that patrons and consumers will lose trust in their business, and 17% have heard negative feedback and opinions about AI use from other people.

Over half (57%) said they’ve either had negative opinions about AI themselves or have had negative opinions shared with them from others. 

Twenty percent admitted they were the biggest critics themselves, while others found negative feedback stemmed from social media comments (20%) or directly from customers and clients (18%).

“While some businesses are still figuring out how to integrate AI into their core operations, many have moved beyond experimentation to strategic implementation, focusing not just on what AI can do for them, but on how it creates measurably better outcomes for their customers,” said Jason VandeBoom, Founder and CEO of ActiveCampaign. “We’re seeing people discover AI’s impact on their bottom line in real time, whether that’s increased revenue or time saved. Often, it starts with a personal ‘aha moment’ where they experience AI’s power firsthand, which then naturally evolves into professional adoption and business transformation.”

The study also revealed that using AI tools in a more personal setting can help resolve some of the fears people have.

Nine in 10 have used AI for both personal and work-related tasks. And of them, two-thirds used AI for their personal lives first, taking, on average, six weeks to fully understand what to use it for.

In work settings, it takes people just as long on average to understand it, but the payoffs quickly appear afterwards. 

In a typical week, people said using AI at work saved them 13 hours of time. And it appeared to save more time the more it was used: respondents who used it daily said it saved them 14 hours per week, on average. Those who use it less than once per month only have six hours saved.

And during a typical month, AI tools have saved them $4,739 in operational costs. This followed the same pattern, saving more money the more it was used. Daily users saved $5,038 on average, and infrequent users only saved $2,237.

Many said incorporating AI into their company’s workflow has helped them feel more efficient in completing tasks and allocating resources (39%), feel confident about the quality of their work (29%), and feel creative in their marketing approach (37%).

They said they found AI especially effective for certain departments, like marketing (82%), design and creative (78%), and analytics (75%).

“Marketing is where AI really shines because it amplifies human creativity rather than replacing it,” said Amy Kilpatrick, Chief Marketing Officer of ActiveCampaign. “Our survey shows 82% find AI especially effective for marketing because it handles the time-consuming tasks — like data analysis and content ideation — so marketers can focus on strategy and building genuine connections with their audience. The result is better work delivered faster, which ultimately benefits both the business and the customer.”

Survey methodology:

Talker Research surveyed 1,000 American business owners, marketers, and salespeople; the survey was commissioned by ActiveCampaign and administered and conducted online by Talker Research between May 21 and June 12, 2025.