By Shamina Singh
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a transformative technology that has the potential to revolutionize industries. This includes small businesses, which are the heart of the economy, representing more than 90% of businesses globally and employing half of the world’s workers.
However, conversations about AI tend to focus on technology-driven companies and rarely relate to small businesses. This is a missed opportunity.
When Mastercard created the Center for Inclusive Growth in 2014, we realized that the digital economy – the world economy – would only work when smaller businesses could access the tools and services that supported their success. Those digital tools and services at the time included loans, data and mobile money. They have now expanded to include AI, technology literacy and platforms.
Many small businesses around the world have pain points that consumers barely think about, such as adjusting inventory tracking and financial analysis and forecasting. These businesses generate large amounts of data that they must use for competitive advantage. While AI can help them use their data in new and powerful ways, these technologies also create risks and demands, such as protecting against cyber threats.
As more organizations build AI systems and platforms, we must ensure that what is created serves the needs of all small businesses. This can only happen when organizations incorporate data from different sources from the outset, minimizing and removing disparities as they arise.
Artificial Intelligence, Actionable Influence
The Center’s history of investments in data science capacity for small business and the social sector provides a unique perspective on ways to maximize the opportunities that AI offers, such as extracting analytics and insights that can transform small enterprises, by inform better resource allocation and decision making in many ways.
One investment is our Comprehensive Growth Score, which provides a clear and simple view of social and economic indicators that can help policymakers and local leaders understand how a community can support small businesses and economic development efforts. AI can make a tool like this even more powerful by analyzing larger data sets to understand economic growth trends and depressions at a more granular level.
However, AI also poses a powerful threat. Sixty-one percent of small businesses were victims of a cyber attack in 2023, and AI is driving an increase in the volume and power of these attacks. In Indonesia, the Center worked with the Global Cyber Alliance (GCA) to translate a Cyber Security Toolkit into Bahasa, the country’s official language, to help Indonesian small businesses deal with cyber security threats. When combined with Mastercard’s AI-enabled card fraud detection technology, which doubles the speed at which it can detect potentially compromised cards, we are providing greater resources that can be applied to protect the entire ecosystem of small business.
AI can also help small businesses increase their networks and knowledge. AI’s comprehensive Small Business tool provides personalized, real-time mentoring assistance to small business owners using diverse content and insights from a newly formed media coalition that includes Newsweek, Group Black, TelevisaUnivision and Blavity Media Group. One of the Centre’s UK partners, Be The Business, hosts Beyond the Hype workshops where business leaders work in small groups with AI experts who can share their AI experiences and insights while providing actionable guidance for small business owners.
A more equal future
Bringing small businesses around the world into the digital economy can offer a host of benefits. Scaling these efforts requires collective action and stronger partnerships between the public and private sectors. For Mastercard, it means pooling all of our resources and assets to advance the cause of helping small businesses realize the promise of AI.
Today, I have no doubt that rapidly advancing AI capabilities will help millions more small businesses and the communities that depend on them. With the right partners, we can leverage AI technologies so that the benefits of a growing digital economy extend to every small business.
Join us and together we can harness the power of AI to support small businesses around the world and create a more equal future for all.
Learn more about Mastercard’s Center for Inclusive Growth and its Decade of influence.
Shamina Singh is founder and president of the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth and EVP, Sustainability at Mastercard.