Richard Nash, Vice President and Head of Global Government Relations
Across the world, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are beginning to reap the benefits of AI tools. Between 2023-24, AI uptake in small firms grew by 72% on average across OECD countries. At a time when many face financial pressure, agentic AI could be just what they need.
Agentic AI is a leap forward
Predictive AI has served SMEs well, offering insights through data analysis and pattern recognition. However, Agentic AI goes further.
It can act autonomously on behalf of users, using AI to execute tasks, make complex decisions, and interact with customers in real time. It can accomplish complex tasks with minimal human intervention, opening the door to a future where AI providers, merchants, and platforms work together to transform how consumers shop and pay.
Tomorrow’s small business owners can look forward to:
- Customer-facing capabilities. SMEs with limited marketing budgets can be discovered by customers through AI agents matching nuanced preferences and engaging via voice, chat, and more. A search for “handcrafted leather purse made sustainably” could reveal a small artisan lacking SEO spend. However, to be discoverable, SMEs will need to provide AI-accessible product data.
- Business operations capabilities. Agents can automate tasks like automatically reordering inventory, generating and sending invoices, updating financial records and preparing compliance reports. This autonomy frees owners to focus on growth and customers.
Imagine Mathilde, a Parisian fashion designer who runs a boutique and uses AI tools to increase productivity and improve marketing operations. Now, her AI digital assistant autonomously manages inventory, negotiates with suppliers, personalises customer interactions in multiple languages and handles international shipping, freeing her to focus on strategic and creative aspects of her business.
Then there is Lachlan, who owns a fencing business in rural Australia. Lachlan’s new AI tools handle customer inquiries, optimises pricing, and manages his supply chain while he focuses on expanding to neighboring towns through AI-driven marketing.
This shift is not only transforming how businesses operate, but also how consumers shop. Today, shoppers spend significant time searching, reviewing, and comparing options, often unsure they got the best deal. One day soon, consumers will leverage AI agents via their favorite chat interface to quickly discover, evaluate and decide on purchases. As PayPal’s CEO Alex Chriss puts it, “conversations now drive commerce.”
The SME Opportunity: Leveling the digital playing field with AI
According to a survey of over 1 000 SMEs in the US, 76% are either actively using or exploring AI tools. And there is an appetite for new tools with over half wanting a tool to forecast cash flow, and 45% for a revenue prediction.
Results from the 2025 OECD D4SME Survey across 10 OECD countries with the support of D4SME partners, including PayPal, confirm a broader global trend of SMEs embracing technology to compete and grow: 91% of SMEs using generative AI report efficiency gains, 76% cite increased innovation, and over 60% note reduced staffing needs or access to new revenue streams.
However, the same survey also highlights there remain significant barriers: 67% of non-users remain unsure about how to use generative AI or assess the risks, and around 80% are concerned with data privacy, legal liability, and misinformation.
Perceived opportunities and risks of using generative AI
Note: Responses are calculated as the percentage of generative AI users (in the case of Panel A) and the percentage of generative AI users and non-users agreeing with the listed benefits (in the case of Panel A) and risks (in the case of Panel B) of using generative AI. Source: Bianchini, M. and Lasheras Sancho, M. (2025), “SME digitalisation for competitiveness: The 2025 OECD D4SME Survey”, OECD SME and Entrepreneurship Papers, No. 68, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/197e3077-en.
Businesses will also need the right skills and knowledge to harness the potential of agentic AI. Even with safe, pre-trained systems from providers, business managers will need to customise rules to reflect their strategy, whether it’s margins and supplier negotiations in Paris fashion, or pricing thresholds and supply chain terms in rural Australia. They will need to test the agent, add guardrails, and ensure customers are informed when they interact with AI or see personalised prices, as required by local laws (EU AI Act; GDPR; CRD).
Creating an enabling environment
To unlock agentic commerce for SMEs, industry and policymakers must work together to:
- Strengthen Policy Frameworks and Industry Standards. Governments must build trust and ensure a level playing field, by giving SMEs fair access to AI-powered discovery and payment systems. To do so, we need interoperable, flexible frameworks that build on the OECD AI principles and multilateral forums to strengthen standards for data, transparency, and accountability and ensure coherent approaches across jurisdictions. Governments should clarify that existing privacy, security and consumer protection laws apply in building the agentic commerce ecosystem. Industry should continue to collaborate to develop clear and practical standards and best practices to build trust in agentic commerce processes.
- Establish Economic Incentives and Innovation Hubs. Governments can provide targeted incentives, including tax credits, grants that support SMEs using agentic commerce solutions and agentic commerce innovation hubs combining public and private resources for SMEs.
- Support AI Tooling and Education in Small Business Sector. 61% of small firms support expanded practical training to integrate AI tools into their business. Governments can invest in SME training and targeted AI adoption, building momentum from the G7 statement supporting greater resources for SME AI adoption and showcasing successful cases that demonstrate how agentic commerce can help SMEs achieve their goals.
Action for agentic AI
Agentic commerce is not a distant future – it is happening now, and we must work together to enable SMEs to benefit from the opportunities it will bring.
Action is needed now to put in place the right frameworks, fund innovation hubs, invest in SME training programs, and safeguard competitive access to these transformative technologies. The question isn’t whether agentic commerce will reshape the global economy, but whether we will empower SMEs to be part of that transformation. PayPal is committed to this mission – and we urge everyone to join.
This article was originally published on the OECD Blog.