Generative AI is defined as “deep-learning models that can generate high-quality text, images, and other content based on the data they were trained on.” According to a U.S. Chamber of Commerce study last September, 40% of small businesses use generative AI tools and 91% say AI will help with growth in the future. If you’re looking to scale your business, here are some ideas in ways you can deploy generative AI to help achieve your goals. I used ChatGPT to create this list of 6 ideas (there were more on the AI-generated list) and then researched the ideas to provide more depth and resources.
1. Automate Customer Support
Communicating with your customers immediately is important to retain loyalty and avoid poor reviews. This means 24/7 customer service—to schedule appointments, answer questions, and handle problems. This can be done with:
- Use chatbots (although not all are AI). Lindy lists the best AI chatbots for businesses in 2025.
- Create FAQs for your website or e-commerce store using ChatGPT or other generative AI tool.
Facilitate scheduling. Zapier lists the best AI scheduling assistants.
2. Enhance Marketing & Content Creation
- Content creation for social media posts, blogs, emails, and more. Blend lists the 12 best AI tools for content creation in 2025.
- Customize offers for customers. According to Zendesk, “AI can act like a personalized concierge for every customer, understanding their history and preferences and allowing agents to better understand their needs.”
3. Improve Sales
- Anticipate customer needs. Using AI to analyze data can enable you to review a customer’s history, preferences, and other information to offer them what they need before they ask.
- Create dynamic pricing strategies. This practice of varying prices to reflect changes in market conditions (e.g., higher prices with higher demand) can be easily implemented by using AI to analyze data.
4. Streamline Administrative Tasks
- Automate A/P processing. Instead of waiting for approval to pay bills, AI can automate the process. This can reduce approval time by 40%.
- Use AI to transcribe meeting notes.
5. Automate HR & Recruiting
- Use AI to screen resumes, schedule interviews, and seek hiring advice. While I think you can’t replace a human’s gut feeling about a person, which may be important in hiring, AI cuts down on much of the busy work involved in recruiting. Caution: Watch for state laws on how AI can and cannot be used in hiring. GovDocs lists state laws on using AI in the workplace (Colorado’s law takes effect on February 1, 2026).
6. Make Decisions
- Use AI analytics to understand business trends and make forecasts, analyze financial data, make forecasts, optimize inventory, manage supply chains, and more.
Final thought
“Generative AI is not just about creating something new, but about capturing what was once impossible to express.” — Timnit Gebru, computer scientist, founder of Black in AI, and one of Time’s most influential people in 2022
If you’re looking to scale your business, you probably can’t do it today without deploying generative AI. The extent you use AI in sales and marketing, employee recruiting and hiring, business decision-making and more will translate into how dramatically you’ll scale up your business.
To learn more about using AI in your small business, see this list of blogs.
