AI for good: how businesses are using it
The businesses getting real value from AI aren't doing anything exotic. They're removing the repetitive work that slows everyone down:
- Writing: quotes, proposals, emails, job adverts and policies drafted in minutes, then checked by a person.
- Summarising: long emails, documents and meeting recordings turned into clear actions.
- Admin: invoices read and filed, data moved between systems without re-typing.
- Customer service: common questions answered quickly, any time of day.
- Insight: weekly sales, stock or bookings summaries with the anomalies highlighted.
See 12 AI automations that save hours every week.
AI for bad: how criminals are using it
The same technology is making cyber crime cheaper, faster and more convincing:
- Better phishing. Spelling mistakes used to give scams away. AI writes fluent, personalised emails that mention your real suppliers and colleagues.
- Voice cloning. A few seconds of audio from a video or voicemail can be enough to imitate someone's voice on a phone call asking for an urgent payment.
- Deepfake video. In a widely reported 2024 case, an employee at the engineering firm Arup was tricked into transferring around $25 million after a video call in which the "colleagues" were deepfakes.
- Fake documents. Realistic invoices, letters and bank-detail changes produced in seconds.
- Scale. Criminals can now run thousands of tailored attacks at once. Small businesses aren't too small to be targeted; they're simply easier.
How to protect your business
- Verify payments by phone using known numbers. See invoice fraud.
- Turn on MFA everywhere, so a stolen password isn't enough. See our MFA guide.
- Train people on the new red flags: urgency, secrecy, unusual requests and unexpected login prompts. See how to spot phishing.
- Agree a code word for urgent requests between directors and finance staff.
- Have a plan for when something goes wrong. See the first hour after a cyber attack.
This isn't just for big corporates
It's easy to assume AI is something for large companies with IT departments and big budgets. The opposite is closer to the truth:
- It's affordable. Business AI tools cost a few pounds per person per month, and many are already included in Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace.
- Small teams gain the most. In a five-person business, saving each person three hours a week is like adding a part-time member of staff.
- Criminals don't discriminate. Small businesses face AI-powered scams just as much as big ones, often with fewer defences.
- Falling behind is the real risk. Competitors who use AI well will quote faster, reply faster and run leaner.
Where to start
- Take the 2-minute AI readiness quiz to see where you stand.
- Pick one approved business AI tool and write a short policy. See our AI policy template.
- Choose two repetitive tasks and try AI on them for a month.
- Put the basic defences in place at the same time: MFA, payment verification and a short phishing briefing.
Want help? Our AI Opportunity Review finds where AI will pay off in your business, and our cyber security work protects you from the other side.
