3 days ago
Small Businesses Are Enthusiastic About Agentic AI But Understand The Challenges
Longtime computer scientist and Stanford University professor emeritus Yoav Shoham recently acknowledged the great promise of AI agents — and emphasized the need for caution.
'The vision is exciting,' he teased in a recent editorial. 'Intelligent software agents that act like digital coworkers, booking your flights, rescheduling meetings, filing expenses and talking to each other behind the scenes to get things done. But if we're not careful, we're going to derail the whole idea before it has a chance to deliver real benefits.'
Shoham warns of an AI backlash if expectations of the technology exceed what it's able to reliably and accurately accomplish.
According to the Forbes Research 2025 Small Business Survey, many small business owners also have mixed feelings, showing both enthusiasm for agentic AI and uncertainty about how to introduce it into their businesses.
In March, 50% of the 535 small business owners surveyed had plans to introduce AI agents in their companies within a year's time. Respondents also acknowledged that pulling it off won't be easy, citing AI implementation as their second-biggest technology challenge (27%).
Haphazard AI Could Undermine Early Success
Shoham would rather see companies be thorough than quick.
'We need to stop treating LLMs as standalone products and start building complete systems around them — systems that account for uncertainty, monitor outputs, manage costs and layer in guardrails for safety and accuracy,' he said.
Meanwhile, early reviews of agentic AI are mostly positive from the enterprise world, where bigger budgets often enable earlier adoption.
According to a 2025 PwC survey, 52% of enterprises reported either broad or full AI agent adoption, and those early users said they experienced increased productivity, faster decision-making and improved customer experience.
Shoham also sees the potential, which is why he said business leaders should temper the excitement now by setting realistic expectations for the time and effort that is required to do it right.
"If we can do that, agents won't just be another passing trend," he added. 'They could become the backbone of how we get things done in the digital world.'
