With 10 to 49 people, you have a different problem from a sole trader. Several people may already be using AI tools on their own, nobody owns the question, and the task that would save the most time crosses two or three teams. This guide is about getting from scattered experiments to one project that pays for itself.
In this guide a small business has 10 to 49 employees. That matches the government's business population figures, which counted 220,085 private sector businesses of this size at the start of 2025, employing about 4.3 million people.1 (The same release also uses "small" for everything from 0 to 49, so check which one a statistic means.)
Your accountant may use "small company" in a different sense. Companies House sets accounting categories by turnover, balance sheet and staff numbers, and a company can be small for accounts while having more than 49 staff, or fewer.2 That is a separate test from the employee bands in this guide.
Key takeaways
- At this size AI is common: about a third of businesses with 10 to 49 staff used it in 2026.
- Find out what your staff already use before you buy anything new.
- Pick one process that several people repeat, measure it, and improve that.
- Give one person ownership of AI, even if it is a small part of their job.
What is realistic
Adoption is growing fast at this size. The government's AI adoption research found 34% of businesses with 10 to 49 employees were using AI in 2026, and that the share nearly doubled from 2025 for micro, small and medium businesses.3 The survey covers businesses with 5 or more employees.3
What that usually means in practice is general assistants and AI features inside software you already pay for. The next step up, which suits many firms of this size, is connecting those tools to your own documents or systems so they can do a whole task, not just draft text.
The surprising part is that the hard work is rarely the AI. It is agreeing how the process should run, finding where the information lives and deciding who checks the output. A 20-person accountancy practice that wants AI to draft client letters first has to agree on a standard letter.
Typical first projects
Good first projects at this size are repeated by several people, cost real hours each week and have a clear owner:
- A shared knowledge assistant that answers staff questions from your own policies, price lists and past work.
- Enquiry handling: sorting incoming emails or forms, drafting replies and routing them to the right person.
- Document work: first drafts of proposals, reports or tender answers from your past material.
- Process automation: moving data between your CRM, accounts and job systems without retyping.
Measure before you start. Ask the people who do the task how long it takes, then measure again a month after the change.
Find out what is already in use
Before you buy, ask your team which AI tools they use for work and what they put into them. You will probably find more than you expected, some on personal accounts. That is normal, not a disciplinary matter. It tells you where the demand is, and which tools need bringing under a company account.
How to buy help
At this size you have real choices. A solo consultant can suit scoping, training or advice where you want one senior person. A freelancer can suit a defined build. An agency can suit a project that needs several skills at once, such as design, integration and support afterwards. A larger firm can make sense for a big build, though its minimum engagement may be more than you need. None of these is better in general, and you can mix them, for example a consultant to scope and a freelancer to build. See our comparison of consultants, agencies and freelancers.
Some businesses this size want ongoing senior advice without a full-time hire. Our guide to fractional AI leadership explains how that works.
Write a short project brief, ask two or three suppliers to respond to it, and use our questions to ask an AI consultant when you meet them.
What businesses this size spend
No published source gives a typical price for an AI project at this size. What we do have is total spending on AI. Among businesses using AI, the government research found mean spend in 2025 of £10,500 for businesses with 10 to 49 employees.3 Across all sizes, 43% of businesses using AI said they spent nothing, which the report links to AI built into existing software and free tools.3 Mean figures are pulled up by a few big spenders, so many businesses will spend much less.
Our cost guide gives sourced day rates and shows what a budget like this buys.
Governance and buying differences at this size
You probably do not have a procurement team, but you are big enough that a bad supplier choice or a data leak hurts. Light, written rules help:
- Name one person who owns AI tools and decisions.
- Keep a list of approved tools, with company accounts rather than personal ones.
- Agree what staff must not paste into AI tools, and write it down.
- Ask suppliers the questions in our guide to AI supplier security.
- Make sure you own what is built and can get your data out.
If a project involves staff or customer personal information, take advice from a qualified adviser before you start. Our guide to AI security for small businesses covers the technical basics.
Free support
There is more free help than most businesses use. Free government-backed AI courses are available through the AI Skills Hub, and the target for the programme includes at least 2 million employees of small and medium businesses.4 Help to Grow: Management is open to businesses with 5 to 249 employees trading for more than a year, at £750 per participant with the government funding the remaining 90% of course costs.5 Check the current terms before you apply.
Our guides to UK government support for AI in small businesses, free AI training and AI grants and funding cover the details.
Where to go next
New to the subject? Start with our plain-English guide to AI for small business. If you are smaller, see AI for micro businesses; if you are growing past 50, see AI for medium-sized businesses. When you are ready to look for help, read how to choose an AI consultant or browse the directory.
Sources
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Department for Business and Trade, "Business population estimates for the UK and regions 2025: statistical release", published 2 October 2025, https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/business-population-estimates-2025/business-population-estimates-for-the-uk-and-regions-2025-statistical-release, accessed 2026-11-14. ↩
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Companies House on GOV.UK, "Accounts for micro-entities, small and dormant companies", undated, https://www.gov.uk/annual-accounts/microentities-small-and-dormant-companies, accessed 2026-11-14. ↩
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Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, "Artificial intelligence adoption research 2026" (AI adoption survey 2026), published 29 October 2026, pages 21 and 43, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ai-adoption-survey-2026, accessed 2026-11-14. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4
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GOV.UK, "Free AI training for all, as government and industry programme expands to provide 10 million workers with key AI skills by 2030", published 28 January 2026, https://www.gov.uk/government/news/free-ai-training-for-all-as-government-and-industry-programme-expands-to-provide-10-million-workers-with-key-ai-skills-by-2030, accessed 2026-11-14. ↩
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Small Business Charter, "Help to Grow: Management course FAQs", undated, https://smallbusinesscharter.org/help-to-grow-management/course/faqs, accessed 2026-11-14. ↩