How Data Creates Barriers to SMBs Adopting Agentic AI

As part of our ongoing research, TSL Tech Research has been tracking how small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are using AI. We have been gathering insights on the level of AI maturity SMB have achieved, what their AI initiatives are, and which AI solutions they are already using. 

In a recent survey, we focused on one aspect of AI: Agentic AI. AI agents allow SMBs to automate repetitive, manual tasks. They also enable SMBs to automate and personalize customer service workflows. Agentic AI empowers SMBs to be more productive by extending the bandwidth of small staff sizes with automation. AI agents can handle routine tasks, leaving employees free to carry out more fulfilling, high-value work. 

We surveyed 723 IT professionals and decision-makers at companies with 50 to 500 employees to learn more about the challenges faced when using AI agents. Data is needed to power AI agents, so we asked about how data was creating barriers to the adoption of Agentic AI.

Our results showed that the top data-related challenges SMBs face with the use of AI agents involve their ability to ensure that data is secure, complete, and accurate. 

Data Barriers to Implementing AI Agents

When we asked IT professionals at SMBs what their biggest data obstacles were to implementing AI Agents, they responded: 

60%

Data Security

52%

Data Governance and Compliance

51%

Data Quality and Integrity

36%

Context and Relevance

19%

Data Accessibility and Silos

8%

Not Sure

6%

Other

At 60%, data security was identified as the top barrier to implementing AI agents at SMBs. Agentic AI can create data security challenges by extending the attack surface. When carrying out customer service workflows, AI agents may share personally identifiable information (PII) or sensitive financial information with other agents or tools.

Data governance and compliance came in as the second-biggest challenge to Agentic AI adoption, with 52% of IT professionals at SMBs citing it. To operate AI agents responsibly, SMBs need to govern the data used to run automated processes.  Data governance ensures that AI agents follow compliance regulations related to the authorized access of information. Governance also sets policies that promote data quality and usability throughout its lifecycle.

Data quality and integrity ranked third place as a top obstacle to adopting AI agents, coming in at 51%. For AI agents to operate optimally, they need to be powered by accurate and complete information. This information is used to train agents using Machine Learning (ML), so data needs to be of high quality to produce the right outcomes. Data should be trustworthy and unaltered throughout its lifecycle so that AI agents make the right decisions during workflows.

What these Data Challenges Mean for SMBs

Unless SMBs can resolve their issues with the data they use to power Agentic AI, they will fall behind competitors in the journey to AI maturity. As part of the same survey, we asked IT professionals at SMBs if they had started automating tasks with AI and which ones. Their responses were as follows: 

51% Document summarization and analysis 

35% Content creation and editing 

32% Customer service and support 

25% Data entry and processing 

21% None 

16% Marketing campaign optimization 

13% HR and recruitment tasks 

7% Inventory management 

6% Supply chain and logistics optimization 

10% Other 

According to our findings, the majority of SMBs are already using Agentic AI to automate a range of tasks. Only 21% fail to leverage AI automation. The top use case for AI agents was document summarization and analysis, with 51%. Content creation and editing came in second at 35%. The use case that came in third place was customer service and support at 32%.

Key Takeaways: 

SMBs that haven’t overcome their data-related challenges are missing out on opportunities to automate processes that their competitors are already taking advantage of. With AI-powered automation, some SMBs are processing unstructured data in documents, developing quality content, and enhancing customer service and support.

How IT Service Firms can Help SMBs Overcome Data Challenges

IT service providers can use our research into the data challenges SMBs are facing when trying to adopt Agentic AI to understand how to best market their services. IT service firms should promote their ability to support data security, governance, and integrity. For example, expertise in AI platforms, especially the data management and governance capabilities, would be needed for SMBs to ensure that they are using AI responsibly and fueling their AI agents using complete and accurate data.

When we asked SMBs how they wanted IT service providers to support them during AI adoption, the responses were in line with the data-related challenges they faced. The ways SMBs wanted to be supported were:

• 50% Ensuring data security and compliance for AI implementations
• 49% Assisting with AI integration into existing systems
• 42% Providing customized AI solutions tailored to our industry
• 40% Offering training and upskilling programs for employees
• 33% Conducting AI strategy consulting and roadmap development
• 26% Providing ongoing technical support and maintenance for AI tools
• 11% None
• 1% Other

Key Takeaways:

The number one way SMBs want to be supported during AI adoption is ensuring data security and compliance for AI implementations, coming in at 50%. This finding aligns with the top responses to the question about data challenges to implementing AI agents. SMBs are looking to IT service firms for help in overcoming data challenges related to security and governance for AI agents. Almost half of the SMBs surveyed wanted help with integrating AI into existing systems. 42% want IT service firms to provide customized AI solutions designed for the SMB industry.

Getting on the Road to Agentic AI Adoption

SMBs need to find the right IT service partner to help them support data security, governance, and quality for AI agents. Using the findings from our survey, IT service firms can create marketing campaigns that target SMBs by appealing to their pain points related to AI adoption. TSL Tech Marketing can also help SMBs better understand their data and AI challenges so they can be matched with the ideal managed service provider (MSP).  

Reach out to TSL Tech Research today to design your own research survey so you can gain insights into the IT services market.