AI use is spreading unevenly: 52% of large businesses across OECD countries used AI in 2025, compared with 20% of enterprises with 10 or more employees. The figures, reported by CIR Magazine from the OECD’s Digital Economy and Society Outlook 2026, put access to finance, digital infrastructure and specialist skills among the barriers facing smaller firms.
Watch Desk analysis
What happened
CIR Magazine says the OECD report found that just one in five enterprises with at least 10 employees used AI in 2025. Among businesses with 250 or more employees, the share was 52%, making them more than twice as likely to use it.
The OECD projects that by the end of the decade, AI uptake among large firms could be nearly 80% higher than the average across all businesses. The report’s account also points to implementation costs, data-protection uncertainty and difficulties integrating AI into existing systems as obstacles for smaller companies.
Why it matters
The figures suggest that access to AI is not simply a matter of whether a business wants to try a new tool. Smaller firms may also need the money, infrastructure, skills and time to put it to work. If those conditions remain uneven, the benefits of AI adoption could accrue disproportionately to companies already equipped to move quickly.
CIR Magazine reports that smaller businesses may narrow the gap in cloud-computing adoption by 2030, while the OECD expects the AI divide to be less evenly addressed. That makes support for skills, cloud access and interoperability more than abstract policy furniture: it could shape which firms can actually adopt the technology.
Our read
The headline statistic is striking, but it does not tell us whether adoption is producing useful results, or what kinds of AI businesses are using. It does show why “just adopt AI” is thin advice for a small firm facing costs, integration headaches and a shortage of specialist help.
The OECD’s suggested levers, including wider access to cloud services, targeted support and stronger interoperability and open standards, are a more practical starting point. The test is whether those measures help smaller firms solve real problems, rather than merely improve the adoption chart.
What to watch
- Whether future OECD figures show smaller firms narrowing the AI-use gap.
- Whether support for cloud access, skills and integration reaches smaller businesses.
- Whether adoption figures are paired with evidence about business outcomes.
Discussion spark: Should governments focus on helping smaller firms get the skills and infrastructure to use AI, or leave adoption to market forces even if larger businesses pull further ahead?
Sources and evidence
- Source update (9 November 2026, 00:00 UTC)
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