50 AI Use Cases for SMEs: Practical Applications by Department

AI is not just for tech giants. Small and medium businesses are finding practical, profitable applications across every department. This guide organises 50 proven AI use cases by business function, with realistic assessments of complexity and ROI.

How to Use This Guide

Each use case includes:

Complexity: Low (off-the-shelf tools), Medium (some customisation), High (custom development)
ROI Timeline: Quick (1-3 months), Medium (3-6 months), Long (6-12 months)
Starting Point: Practical first step to get started

Start Small

Pick 2-3 use cases from your highest-pain areas. Master those before expanding. Trying to do everything at once is the most common AI adoption mistake.

Customer Service (8 Use Cases)

1. Chatbot for FAQs

Answer common questions automatically, 24/7.

Complexity: Low
ROI Timeline: Quick
Starting Point: Intercom, Zendesk AI, or ChatGPT-powered widget

2. Email Response Drafting

AI drafts responses to customer emails for agent review.

Complexity: Low
ROI Timeline: Quick
Starting Point: Gmail/Outlook AI features or Superhuman

3. Sentiment Analysis

Automatically detect unhappy customers from support tickets.

Complexity: Medium
ROI Timeline: Medium
Starting Point: Zendesk or Freshdesk sentiment features

4. Ticket Routing

Automatically categorise and route tickets to the right team.

Complexity: Low
ROI Timeline: Quick
Starting Point: Most helpdesk platforms include this

5. Voice AI for Phone Support

AI handles initial phone inquiries before human handoff.

Complexity: High
ROI Timeline: Long
Starting Point: Evaluate vendors like Bland AI or Air AI

6. Knowledge Base Generation

Turn support conversations into searchable help articles.

Complexity: Medium
ROI Timeline: Medium
Starting Point: Use Claude or ChatGPT to draft from ticket history

7. Customer Churn Prediction

Identify customers likely to leave before they do.

Complexity: Medium
ROI Timeline: Medium
Starting Point: HubSpot or Salesforce predictive features

8. Multilingual Support

Provide support in languages your team does not speak.

Complexity: Low
ROI Timeline: Quick
Starting Point: DeepL or Google Translate API integration

Sales (8 Use Cases)

9. Lead Scoring

Automatically rank leads by likelihood to convert.

Complexity: Low
ROI Timeline: Quick
Starting Point: HubSpot, Salesforce, or Pipedrive scoring

10. Email Personalisation

Generate personalised outreach at scale.

Complexity: Low
ROI Timeline: Quick
Starting Point: Clay, Lavender, or Apollo

11. Sales Call Analysis

Transcribe and analyse sales calls for coaching.

Complexity: Low
ROI Timeline: Medium
Starting Point: Gong, Chorus, or Fireflies.ai

12. Proposal Generation

Automatically generate proposal drafts from templates.

Complexity: Medium
ROI Timeline: Quick
Starting Point: PandaDoc AI or custom GPT

13. Competitive Intelligence

Track competitor activity and pricing automatically.

Complexity: Medium
ROI Timeline: Medium
Starting Point: Crayon, Klue, or custom monitoring

14. Meeting Scheduling Optimisation

AI finds optimal meeting times and handles rescheduling.

Complexity: Low
ROI Timeline: Quick
Starting Point: Calendly, x.ai, or Clara

15. CRM Data Enrichment

Automatically fill in missing company and contact data.

Complexity: Low
ROI Timeline: Quick
Starting Point: Clearbit, ZoomInfo, or Apollo

16. Sales Forecasting

AI-powered revenue predictions based on pipeline data.

Complexity: Medium
ROI Timeline: Medium
Starting Point: Salesforce Einstein or Clari

Marketing (8 Use Cases)

17. Content Generation

Create blog posts, social media, and marketing copy.

Complexity: Low
ROI Timeline: Quick
Starting Point: Claude, ChatGPT, or Jasper

18. Image Generation

Create marketing visuals and product images.

Complexity: Low
ROI Timeline: Quick
Starting Point: Midjourney, DALL-E, or Canva AI

19. SEO Optimisation

AI-powered keyword research and content optimisation.

Complexity: Low
ROI Timeline: Medium
Starting Point: Surfer SEO, Clearscope, or Frase

20. Ad Copy Testing

Generate and test multiple ad variations automatically.

Complexity: Low
ROI Timeline: Quick
Starting Point: Google Ads AI or Meta Advantage+

21. Customer Segmentation

Automatically group customers for targeted campaigns.

Complexity: Medium
ROI Timeline: Medium
Starting Point: Klaviyo, Mailchimp, or HubSpot AI

22. Social Media Management

AI schedules, creates, and optimises social posts.

Complexity: Low
ROI Timeline: Quick
Starting Point: Buffer, Hootsuite, or Later AI features

23. Video Creation

Generate marketing videos from text or images.

Complexity: Medium
ROI Timeline: Medium
Starting Point: Synthesia, HeyGen, or Runway

24. A/B Test Analysis

Automatically analyse test results and recommend winners.

Complexity: Low
ROI Timeline: Quick
Starting Point: Most testing platforms include this

Operations (8 Use Cases)

25. Document Processing

Extract data from invoices, contracts, and forms.

Complexity: Medium
ROI Timeline: Medium
Starting Point: Docsumo, Rossum, or AWS Textract

26. Inventory Forecasting

Predict stock needs based on sales patterns.

Complexity: Medium
ROI Timeline: Medium
Starting Point: Inventory management software with AI features

27. Quality Control

Visual inspection of products for defects.

Complexity: High
ROI Timeline: Long
Starting Point: Landing AI or custom computer vision

28. Route Optimisation

Optimise delivery routes for time and fuel.

Complexity: Medium
ROI Timeline: Quick
Starting Point: Route4Me, OptimoRoute, or Google OR-Tools

29. Predictive Maintenance

Predict equipment failures before they happen.

Complexity: High
ROI Timeline: Long
Starting Point: IoT sensors + analytics platform

30. Meeting Transcription

Automatically transcribe and summarise meetings.

Complexity: Low
ROI Timeline: Quick
Starting Point: Otter.ai, Fireflies, or Microsoft Teams

31. Process Mining

Discover bottlenecks in business processes.

Complexity: High
ROI Timeline: Long
Starting Point: Celonis or UiPath Process Mining

32. Supplier Risk Monitoring

Track supplier health and compliance automatically.

Complexity: Medium
ROI Timeline: Medium
Starting Point: Coupa, Riskmethods, or custom monitoring

Finance (8 Use Cases)

33. Expense Categorisation

Automatically categorise expenses for accounting.

Complexity: Low
ROI Timeline: Quick
Starting Point: Expensify, Ramp, or Brex

34. Invoice Matching

Match invoices to POs and receipts automatically.

Complexity: Medium
ROI Timeline: Medium
Starting Point: Tipalti, BILL, or Stampli

35. Fraud Detection

Identify unusual transactions and patterns.

Complexity: Medium
ROI Timeline: Medium
Starting Point: Stripe Radar or payment processor features

36. Cash Flow Forecasting

Predict future cash position based on patterns.

Complexity: Medium
ROI Timeline: Medium
Starting Point: Float, Pulse, or Agicap

37. Credit Risk Assessment

Evaluate customer creditworthiness automatically.

Complexity: Medium
ROI Timeline: Medium
Starting Point: Creditsafe, Dun & Bradstreet

38. Accounts Receivable Prioritisation

Rank which customers to chase for payment.

Complexity: Low
ROI Timeline: Quick
Starting Point: Most AR platforms include this

39. Budget Variance Analysis

Automatically identify and explain budget variances.

Complexity: Medium
ROI Timeline: Medium
Starting Point: Vena, Adaptive, or Power BI AI

40. Tax Optimisation

Identify deductions and compliance issues.

Complexity: High
ROI Timeline: Long
Starting Point: Consult with AI-savvy accountant

HR (6 Use Cases)

41. Resume Screening

Automatically screen and rank job applications.

Complexity: Low
ROI Timeline: Quick
Starting Point: Greenhouse, Lever, or Workable AI

42. Interview Scheduling

AI handles interview coordination.

Complexity: Low
ROI Timeline: Quick
Starting Point: Calendly, GoodTime, or ModernLoop

43. Employee Onboarding

AI-powered onboarding assistance and FAQs.

Complexity: Medium
ROI Timeline: Medium
Starting Point: Notion AI or custom knowledge base

44. Performance Review Assistance

Help managers write better performance feedback.

Complexity: Low
ROI Timeline: Quick
Starting Point: Lattice, 15Five, or Claude

45. Learning Recommendations

Personalise training recommendations for employees.

Complexity: Medium
ROI Timeline: Medium
Starting Point: LinkedIn Learning or Udemy Business

46. Employee Sentiment Analysis

Gauge team morale from surveys and feedback.

Complexity: Medium
ROI Timeline: Medium
Starting Point: Culture Amp, Peakon, or Lattice

IT and Development (4 Use Cases)

47. Code Generation

AI assists developers in writing code.

Complexity: Low
ROI Timeline: Quick
Starting Point: GitHub Copilot, Cursor, or Claude

48. Security Monitoring

AI detects unusual network activity and threats.

Complexity: Medium
ROI Timeline: Medium
Starting Point: CrowdStrike, SentinelOne, or Darktrace

49. IT Helpdesk Automation

AI handles common IT support requests.

Complexity: Medium
ROI Timeline: Medium
Starting Point: Moveworks, Espressive, or custom bot

50. Documentation Generation

Automatically generate technical documentation.

Complexity: Low
ROI Timeline: Quick
Starting Point: Claude, ChatGPT, or Mintlify

Prioritisation Framework

Not all use cases are equal. Use this matrix to prioritise:

Factor	Weight
Pain level of current process	High
Volume of repetitive work	High
Quality of available data	Medium
Technical complexity	Medium
Change management required	Low

Quick Win Indicators

Start with use cases that have:

Clear, measurable outcomes
Existing data to work with
Low political resistance
Available off-the-shelf solutions
Champion who will drive adoption

Red Flags to Watch

Be cautious with use cases that:

Require perfect accuracy (medical, legal decisions)
Have limited training data
Face regulatory scrutiny
Need significant behaviour change
Have unclear success metrics

Implementation Roadmap

Month 1: Foundation

Select 2-3 pilot use cases
Identify tools and data needed
Assign project ownership
Define success metrics

Month 2-3: Pilot

Implement chosen use cases
Gather feedback from users
Measure against metrics
Document learnings

Month 4-6: Expand

Roll out successful pilots broadly
Add next wave of use cases
Build internal expertise
Create governance processes

Next Steps

Review the list with your leadership team
Score each relevant use case on pain level and feasibility
Select 2-3 pilots from your top scores
Take our AI Readiness Assessment to understand your foundation

Want to assess your readiness for these use cases? Take our free AI Readiness Assessment to identify which use cases are right for your current maturity level.