Nine in 10 Indian SMBs bet on AI as tier 2 cities lead adoption: Report

New Delhi, Nov 13 Nine in 10 Indian small and medium businesses (SMBs) are already investing in or planning AI adoption, with 92 per cent of them expecting business growth in the next 12 months, a report said on Thursday.

The report from career portal LinkedIn research, commissioned by YouGov, said that SMBs in some of the fastest growing cities in India led in AI adoption such as Chandigarh (100 per cent), Jaipur (94 per cent), and Ahmedabad (94 per cent).

SMBs are "not just hopeful but rebuilding around smarter systems, skilled talent, and trusted digital platforms," the report mentioned.

The survey of 1,027 office holders in SMB and MSMEs across major Indian cities found 57 per cent view AI and automation as essential to stay competitive, 54 per cent cite operational efficiency as key to protecting margins, and 51 per cent mentioned digital transformation as critical to survival.

Nearly all surveyed businesses use AI to automate workflows (92 per cent) and strengthen analytics (93 per cent), while over 90 per cent use it to streamline hiring, marketing and sales, the report noted.

“Indian SMBs are reimagining how business is built, using AI to drive efficiency, skills-first hiring to build capability, and trusted digital ecosystems to expand their market footprint," said Kumaresh Pattabiraman, Country Manager, LinkedIn India.

SMBs in Delhi (61 per cent) and Pune (60 per cent) lead AI adoption to manage costs, while SMBs in Bengaluru (63 per cent) focused on operational efficiency and those in Chennai (62 per cent) concentrated on building a skilled talent pipeline.

Hiring priorities across SMBs have shifted to digital literacy and AI fluency with 63 per cent of them prioritising it. Problem‑solving (57 per cent) and data analysis (50 per cent) scored over traditional qualifications.

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