Google is partnering with NatWest and the Department for Business and Trade to help UK SME owners boost their innovation with AI, with new figures showing that small business owners are being forced to pause ‘game-changing’ ideas due to a lack of time.

Kicking off its nationwide AI Works for Business tour, Google intends to teach SME leaders how to harness common AI-powered tools to improve business efficiency, save time, and promote growth.

Citing economic analysis from Public First, Google said that these AI tools are predicted to boost SME productivity by up to 20%, comparable to adding an extra day to each working week.

This time saving could give firms the breathing room to develop new ideas, with SME leaders estimating their innovations could boost revenues by an average of 30%, unlocking up to £198 billion across the UK. 

According to Google, it would also help transform the working lives of SME leaders, who currently put in an average of 49 hours, or six days, each week.

“The finding that over half of SMEs have had to pause innovation is a wake-up call, but also an opportunity,” said Debbie Weinstein, Google EMEA President.

“There is enormous potential for AI to free up some time for the nation’s business leaders to focus on strategic, innovative tasks that will spur growth for their businesses and the wider economy.”

Google said that its AI Works for Business tour, which will stop in Edinburgh on the 28th October, will encourage more business leaders to consider how AI might help them solve common business challenges, an aim that evolved in response to the tech giant’s recent AI Works Report.

That report estimated that the UK stands to gain an estimated £400 billion worth of economic growth from AI-powered innovation, though £200 billion of that depends on ensuring employees and business owners adopt the technology effectively.

With that goal in mind, Google is one of several tech firms that signed up to the UK Government’s push to upskill millions of workers in AI, announced earlier this year.

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Along with Microsoft, IBM, SAS, Accenture, Sage, BT, Amazon, Intuit, and Salesforce, the tech firm is committed to training 7.5 million UK workers in essential skills to use AI by 2030, equivalent to around 20% of the UK workforce.

“AI will be key to fuelling the UK’s economic and productivity growth in the next decade,” said Peter Kyle, UK secretary for business and trade.

“The AI Works for Business events have been carefully curated to ensure that the nation’s SMEs – a group that employs over 16 million people – is well poised to benefit from AI transformation.

“As part of its Plan for Small Businesses, the Government is committed to working with private sector companies like Google on initiatives to support SMEs with the adoption of new digital technologies like AI.”

Small businesses interested in joining the tour can find more information and register here.