Among SMEs, the vast majority (87 percent) say they need to and are investing in digital technologies to achieve their growth goals, and 83 percent are investing to close a digital gap with Corporate Canada.

Three-quarters of SMEs also expressed concern that Canada is not keeping up with the US in the transition to the economy of the future, particularly in the use of new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), digitalization and innovation – all important tools to increase productivity Reduce friction and promote growth when used strategically and responsibly.

About a third (32 percent) of SMBs strongly agreed that they keep the potential of AI at its highest level and are actively recruiting talent such as data scientists, technical professionals and machine learning specialists to help them use AI technology. Training is also high on their agenda: 80 percent encourage their employees to upskill in areas such as AI and data analytics to make smarter, more informed decisions to improve their operations.

Last year, generative AI had not yet penetrated the mainstream. Now CEOs worldwide are investing heavily in generative AI as a competitive advantage for the future, making it an investment priority and predicting it will pay off within three to five years. Canada ranks second behind Germany, with 75 percent of Canadian CEOs making generative AI their top investment priority. In comparison, most SMBs take a risk-averse, wait-and-see approach, although more than three-quarters believe the benefits of generative AI outweigh the risks of near-term adoption and would like to see more examples of business use cases. Both surveys show deep concern about the ethical challenges surrounding generative AI, including dataset bias, privacy, transparency, misinformation and intellectual property.