Two-Thirds of Small Businesses Use AI — Only 1 in 4 Employers Has a Policy

Most small business owners are using AI at work. Far fewer have written down the rules for it. That is one of the clearest findings in Gusto's 2026 State of Small Business report, which surveyed 1,731 U.S. owners of businesses with 24 or fewer employees and was reported by CPA Practice Advisor on November 12, 2026.

The same survey shows owners who feel good about their own companies and gloomy about the economy, a majority who raised prices this year, and a growing reliance on business credit cards that are not being paid off each month. Here is what the numbers say, and what an owner can do with them before the year ends.

Owners trust their business more than the economy

Gusto found that 61% of owners are optimistic about their own business, the same share as a year earlier. Optimism about the U.S. economy tells a different story: only 18% are optimistic, down from 29% in 2025, while 59% are pessimistic, up from 50%.

The economic pessimism was broad. It rose in every industry, by an average of 9 points. Goods-producing businesses saw a 12-point jump, and owners in the West saw a 14-point jump. Even so, 86% of owners say their business is meeting or exceeding the expectations they had when they started.

Among optimistic owners, 68% credit customer spending and demand. That matters for planning: the confidence is coming from customers, not from a belief that conditions will ease. Nich Tremper, Senior Economist and Head of Gusto Insights, summed it up: "Small business owners are telling us two things at once."

AI adoption: 67% use it, but depth varies widely

Gusto reports that 67% of small businesses use AI tools. The breakdown shows how shallow or deep that use runs:

• 19% are experimenting.
• 28% use AI for some tasks.
• 15% use it regularly across multiple functions.
• 5% have built it into every part of the business where feasible.

Industry matters. In professional services, 27% of businesses use AI across multiple functions or the whole business. In personal services the figure is 16%, and in community services it is 13%. If you run a salon, a daycare or a nonprofit-adjacent service, your peers are, on average, further behind than a consultancy or agency, which can mean a real head start for owners who move early.

The policy gap is the real story

Only 25% of businesses with employees have an AI policy. That is up from 15% last year, so the trend is moving the right way, but three out of four employers still have no stated rules on what staff can paste into a chatbot, what AI can send to a customer, or who checks the output.

The survey shows why that gap matters. About 60% of AI users are comfortable letting AI draft marketing content with limited oversight, compared with 27% of non-users. Owners were most comfortable letting AI handle communication tasks with limited human review. They were least comfortable with data analysis and direct customer questions.

That split is sensible. A weak social post is easy to fix. A wrong number in a financial analysis, or a wrong answer to a customer about a refund or a warranty, can cost money and trust. Without a policy, each employee draws that line on their own.

What a one-page AI policy should cover

• Approved tools. Name the AI products staff may use for work, and say whether they use company or personal accounts.
• Off-limits data. List what never goes into an AI tool: customer personal information, payroll records, passwords, unreleased financials.
• Review rules. Match the oversight to the risk. Marketing drafts might need one read-through. Customer replies, contracts and financial figures need a person to check them before they go out.
• Disclosure. Decide when you will tell customers that AI helped produce something.
• An owner. Name one person who answers questions and updates the policy.

Keep it to a page. A policy nobody reads protects nobody. If a tool or a workflow touches client data, ask your insurance agent whether your coverage addresses it; our guide to business insurance explains the main policy types.

Prices: half raised them, half plan to do it again

Costs drove much of the sentiment. In the survey, 59% of owners said changing input prices hurt their business over the past year, while 3% said the effect was positive. Goods-producing businesses were hit harder: 26% reported a much more negative impact, versus 20% across all businesses. Another 40% said rising interest rates have hurt them.

Owners responded by raising prices. Gusto found that 52% raised prices over the past 12 months, most often by up to 10%, and 50% plan another increase next year.

If you are among them, do the math before you set the number. Start with your current margins in a clean profit and loss statement, then test what happens to profit if a 5% or 10% increase costs you a few percent of your customers. A modest increase on a loyal base often beats a deeper discount to keep volume. Communicate changes early, in writing, and tie them to something customers value.

Business credit cards are becoming long-term loans

Among owners who used outside financing this year, 79% used a business credit card, up from 69% in 2025. Of those card users, 63% do not pay off the balance monthly. In other words, the card is no longer just a convenience for expenses. For many owners it is the financing.

The wider financing picture is mixed. About 35% of small businesses used no outside financing at all, and 85% of owners who sought financing got everything they needed. The split by mood is striking: nearly 9 in 10 optimistic owners secured all the financing they sought, compared with nearly three-quarters of pessimistic owners.

Tremper cautioned about the cost of money: "Small businesses continue to face high borrowing costs, and that may continue into 2027." Carrying a revolving balance at card rates is one of the most expensive ways to borrow. If you are carrying one, price out alternatives. A term loan or an SBA-backed product often costs far less; see our SBA loan guide for how those programs work, and keep personal and business spending apart with a dedicated business bank account.

Hiring: skills, not just pay, are the sticking point

About 26% of owners tried to hire in the past year and struggled to find qualified candidates they could afford. Of those, 64% said candidates lacked the required skills. The smallest businesses more often cited affordability, while larger small businesses more often cited scheduling conflicts.

The takeaway is that a bigger paycheck alone may not solve it. If skills are the gap, consider training a motivated hire, narrowing a job to its essential duties, or using AI tools to absorb routine work so a smaller team covers more ground. That is where a clear AI policy and a hiring plan connect: both decide what people do and what software does.

Five steps to take this month

1. Write your AI rules. One page, shared with every employee, with a named owner.
2. Audit where AI already runs. Ask staff which tools they use. Many employers discover use they did not know about.
3. Re-run your pricing. Compare your input costs and margins to last year's, and decide whether a planned increase should come sooner or be tiered.
4. Review card balances. If you are among the 63% who carry a balance, list the interest rate on each card and compare it to a term-loan offer.
5. Revisit open roles. Rewrite job posts around the skills you actually need and the training you can offer.

The bottom line

Gusto's survey describes owners who believe in their own businesses even as they brace for a harder economy. The practical edge goes to those who treat AI as a managed tool rather than a free-for-all, price with their margins in view, and finance growth at the lowest cost they can find. None of that needs a big budget. It needs an afternoon and a plan.

Source: Gusto's 2026 State of Small Business report, as reported by CPA Practice Advisor on November 12, 2026.

Photo by Ellicia on Unsplash