3 days ago
The Small Business Technology Gap, And How To Bridge It
There's a lot of talk right now about how AI and digital tools are transforming construction and manufacturing, and big firms are already there, deepening an already troubling technology gap for small businesses. Larger firms are using 5D project modeling, AI-based scheduling, and digital control centers to keep complex jobs on track. And it's paying off. By some estimates, these tools are shaving months off major builds and helping companies manage risk, labor, and materials more effectively.
But most small businesses don't have access to these tools. And even if they did, they don't have the time or training to make them useful. In fact, a recent survey from Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Voices (10ksb Voices), of which I am a member, found that 42% of small businesses do not have access to the resources and expertise necessary to successfully deploy AI.
Defining the Small Business Technology Gap
Small construction firms, tradespeople, specialty manufacturers, and independent contractors are being locked out of the new digital landscape—not because they lack skill, but because they're stuck operating in analog while their competitors have moved to digital. This isn't just a technology gap. It's an access gap: a very real barrier between having technology available on paper and being able to afford, train for, and apply it.
As James M. Gordon, Managing Partner, Global CULTIVA, and a fellow member of the 10ksb Voices community, puts it: 'Once small companies are made aware of new technologies, they can adopt and innovate with them very quickly, sometimes even faster than large enterprises. We don't have the bureaucratic layers that slow bigger firms down. That agility is a key advantage.' If the past is predictive, then the future of infrastructure, manufacturing, and clean energy depends on small business involvement. But if we actually want that to be true, we must make it possible.
Big projects increasingly require digital documentation, scheduling alignment, and full traceability across the entire supply chain. When small businesses serve as suppliers to larger enterprises, they are increasingly required to hold specific quality, compliance, or cybersecurity certifications—such as ISO, AS9100, or NIST standards. Achieving and maintaining these certifications is extremely difficult without digital systems in place. Paper-based or outdated processes make it nearly impossible to demonstrate the level of traceability, documentation control, and operational consistency that certification bodies and enterprise buyers expect.
As a result, small businesses that still rely on paper timesheets, handwritten specifications, or siloed spreadsheets are unlikely to win those contracts—not due to the quality of their work, but because they aren't integrated into the digital systems larger contractors now demand.
This is where policy should step in. It shouldn't just fund innovation at the top—it should open the pipeline at the bottom. That could mean shared access to digital tools through trade associations or local business hubs. It could mean practical grants—not risky innovation grants, but nuts-and-bolts support for upgrading systems, hiring tech-savvy staff, or getting certified to bid on projects that require digital coordination.
Closing this access gap requires more than awareness. It needs deliberate policy action. Earlier this year, Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Voices and the Bipartisan Policy Center released a playbook of policies to support small business innovation and growth. That playbook includes three recommendations that would directly help close this gap:
Letting Small Businesses in on the Future
Most small business owners aren't trying to "digitally transform." They're trying to get the job done, pay their crew, and keep the wheels turning. But the job has changed, and technology increasingly determines who gets to play.
If we don't close this technology gap, we're not just leaving small businesses behind—we're narrowing the talent pool, weakening our supply chains, and increasing our national risk.
Big business will keep building with or without us. The question is: how will we close the small business technology gap? Are we going to let small businesses in on the future, or not?
