Small businesses are adopting artificial intelligence faster than they are learning how to use it.
That is the central finding from Thryv’s 2026 AI and Small Business Adoption Survey, which found AI adoption among U.S. small businesses has climbed to 66%, up from 55% one year earlier.
But 70% of respondents said they need more training to use AI effectively.
The numbers illustrate a growing divide between access to AI and the ability to turn that access into reliable business results.
Adoption Is Moving Faster Than Skills
The survey covered 561 U.S. small and midsized business owners and decision-makers across industries including construction, professional services, restaurants, retail and personal services.
Despite the training gap, businesses are not approaching AI cautiously.
One-third are spending more on AI tools than they were a year ago, while 53% now spend at least $100 per month on AI.
Meanwhile, 86% described themselves as somewhat to extremely comfortable using the technology.
That creates an interesting contradiction.
Businesses increasingly feel comfortable with AI while simultaneously recognizing that they do not necessarily know how to use it effectively.
YouTube Has Become The AI Training Department
Small businesses are filling that knowledge gap wherever they can.
Thryv found 57% primarily use YouTube and social media for AI training, while 49% rely on online resources and webinars.
One-third even ask AI tools such as ChatGPT how to use AI.
That decentralized approach makes sense for smaller companies without formal learning and development departments, but it also creates risks.
AI can generate convincing answers even when those answers are incomplete or incorrect. Employees therefore need enough knowledge about the underlying task to recognize when the technology gets something wrong.
Businesses Say AI Is Paying Off
The training gap has not stopped companies from reporting substantial benefits.
Seventy percent of respondents said AI contributed to increased revenue during the previous 12 months, while 55% said the technology reduced costs.
Another 61% estimated AI could save their business between $500 and $2,000 per month.
Time savings are even more widespread.
Among AI users, 92% said the technology saves time, while 79% expect to recover between 11 and 60 hours per month.
Those numbers help explain why businesses continue investing despite concerns about their own expertise.
AI Versus Hiring
The survey also provides an interesting look at how AI could affect employment.
When respondents were asked whether they would purchase AI software or hire an employee if both could perform the same task equally well, 46% selected AI.
That is up from 38% in 2025.
Actual hiring patterns have changed much less dramatically.
Fifty-five percent said they hired the same number of workers they had planned to hire, while only 13% said AI caused them to hire fewer people.
For now, AI appears to be changing how existing employees work faster than it is eliminating positions.
The Bottom Line
Small businesses have clearly moved beyond simply experimenting with AI.
They are spending money on it, incorporating it into everyday operations and reporting measurable benefits.
But the 70% training figure should get just as much attention as the 66% adoption rate.
Buying AI software is becoming easy. Knowing when to trust it, how to integrate it into a workflow and how to recognize when it produces a bad answer is considerably harder.
The next phase of small business AI adoption may therefore be less about getting companies to use AI and more about teaching them to use it well.