For a long time, commercial success largely depended on resources. Smaller startups were simply unable to compete with massive corporations, as they could never match them in terms of sheer investment. However, artificial intelligence (AI) provides smaller companies with the tools they need to leverage ingenuity to become fierce competitors. Even with the investment of millions of dollars into a project, someone who uses AI in a clever way to pivot can easily claim a significant share of the market. AI levels the playing field between large corporations and small startups in terms of resources and shifts the focus from resources to agility and innovation.
AI and the Generation of Engaging Content
For most startups, the exit plan focuses on getting acquired by a larger corporation and then becoming part of that organization. The likelihood of emerging as the next Amazon or Netflix was simply too small. However, generative AI can actually provide startups with some of the tools they were missing to develop into an industry-changing organization. One of the gaps that generative AI can fill pertains to content. Large corporations have massive staffs with a range of expertise and are capable of creating content that can engage customers and serve as marketing material. Often, there are entire departments dedicated to different types of content creation. While startups also have the expertise to make engaging content, the problem is in finding the time, especially in the beginning when there are likely only a handful of employees.
Small companies can save themselves a great deal of time by using AI to generate some of this content. While people tend to think of AI-generated content as text, the technology is also capable of producing images and even videos. Of course, AI has its limits in terms of content generation, and startups cannot entirely depend on it to produce natural-sounding text or marketing-quality video. We are not far from a future in which this is a real possibility. Having AI manage these parts of company development frees up employees to focus on other business processes. Introducing high-quality content early helps startups generate the buzz they need to secure a significant share of the market.
AI and Data Analysis Processes
Another way that AI can benefit small companies is through data analysis. Corporations leverage a lot of resources to crunch data and develop insights into the market, as well as customer behavior. These insights can help companies make informed decisions that put them at the top of the market and keep them there. Historically, data analysis has involved a lot of manpower. However, these processes are increasingly being transitioned to AI, which means they become more accessible to startups without the staff or time to think only about the direction of the industry and the behavior of customers.
The ability to generate insights is extremely important for companies to thrive in the current market. Customers constantly provide feedback both directly and in terms of when and what they purchase. AI can help startups benefit from the data immediately and, arguably, when it is most important for development. During the early years, startups make a number of key decisions about how they will present themselves to the market and the niche they will fill. With AI providing immediate feedback and insight into these decisions, startups can set themselves up for unprecedented success. The same goes for industry insights, which often prove more beneficial for startups than larger corporations since startups have the ability to shift their place in the market without wasting a lot of time or money.
AI and the Technology Gap
The resources held by large companies make it possible for them to develop new technologies and stay on the cutting edge. This can be difficult for small companies that must often invest in core technology with the understanding they will need further investment or revenue to make changes or updates. However, AI makes it easier to close the technology gap. While there is some benefit to the native technology that corporations can afford to develop, AI makes it easy for startups to adopt third-party solutions and integrate them into the existing system. This adds to the agility of startups, which may soon become one of the most distinguishing features in terms of which companies are the most successful.
Corporations often get bogged down by bureaucracy or simply organizational inertia when it comes to adopting new technology. This limits their ability to innovate and leaves space for smaller companies to pull ahead of them in terms of technical capabilities. Moreover, these large companies often operate using legacy systems that may require AI and other new technologies to be retrofitted, a process that often proves time intensive and expensive. Small companies do not face these same challenges and thus can be much more agile in the marketplace. This is especially true with AI systems that are able to emulate many tech processes that historically would have required a large investment of resources.
The Bottom Line
What does AI leveling the playing field for small and large companies ultimately mean? In the coming years, there will likely be a marketplace shift as corporate resources no longer serve as a guarantee of success. To be competitive, companies will need to focus on agility and innovation. This may result in more partnerships between small and large companies instead of the typical acquisition model. Small companies have a lot of advantages in this new AI-equipped market and that will reshape their role and corporate goals.