Ryan West has left the world of traditional jobs behind since founding his fast-growing business CodexWest , which offers expert witness services, primarily for intellectual property lawsuits.

He founded the company, based in the Salt Lake City area of Utah, in 2020, eager to put what he learned earning a Ph.D. in computer science to work for him. He now performs technical forensic investigations and delivers expert testimony in court for clients such as law firms representing plaintiffs or defendants in patent and copyright litigation involving software. The company also offers software research services for companies developing new algorithms or publishing technical papers.

West doesn’t use AI in this forensic or research work. The source code he examines is so confidential that he is often required to leave all electronics outside the secure room at the hosting law firm where he reviews the code.

However, he has used AI on the business side to run his operations more efficiently. Among his favorite tools are Perplexity, Gemini, ChatGPT, Anthropic and Claude Opus. He uses AI for drafting work policies, building finance and accounting workflows, and helping identify potential contractors.

Meanwhile, to expand his capacity when he is busy, he hires several contractors, who help him with tasks such as research and sometimes fly with him to onsite projects for clients. “It lets me scale up for large matters and grow the business over time,” he says.

West is an example of how AI adoption is climbing among solopreneurs and other small business owners, though it is far from the only tool or strategy, they use to extend what one person, or a small team can accomplish.

Recent research by Gusto the payroll processor West uses to cut his own paycheck, shows that nearly 60% of new business owners in 2025 used AI to set up their businesses, with usage highest in professional services businesses. Among those who used AI, three-quarters used it to develop business ideas, while 53% used it for administrative or legal tasks and 51% used it to set up operations, according to the study, “New Business Formation: The AI Advantage.”

“AI is obviously changing a lot of how people start new businesses,” said Aaron Terrazas, an economist with Gusto.

Terrazas pointed to research showing that only about 3% of respondents said they would not have started their business without AI, but 50% said AI made the process cheaper and faster.

“I think this is such an overlooked part of the conversation — it's clearly reducing friction, helping people brainstorm, helping people do tasks like administrative and legal work in some cases,” Terrazas said.

Earlier this month, Gusto introduced its own agentic AI partner called Cofounder. It can handle tasks like run payroll automatically, approve time off, send reminders of compliance deadlines and operate through SMS, Slack or other platforms. It runs on Gusto’s existing platform.

What remains to be seen is how much of an advantage using AI will be, and for whom, in small businesses. Usage is highest among Gen Z (71.4%), followed by millennials (nearly 63.9%), Generation X (52.5%) and Baby Boomers (41.7%). Other research by Gusto in the company’s 2026 New Business Formation Report found that there is a gender gap, with nearly two-thirds of men using AI to launch their businesses, versus just over half of women.

Also unknown is its impact on hiring in the small business sector. With many saying AI will take people’s jobs, the Gusto data tells a different story. “AI was not often cited as a reason for not hiring,” said Terrazas. “In fact, the share of businesses planning to hire over the next year hit a three-year high.”

A more often cited reason for not hiring traditional employees was non-AI productivity improvements. As Gusto’s research points out, it’s not just AI that small business owners are using to get more done in less time.

West is not alone in expanding his capacity by hiring freelancers. More than four in ten solopreneurs pay at least one contractor, according to the company’s recent findings .

And technologies other than AI are playing a role for many, too. “It’s easy to forget that in this world of AI shifting productivity, it’s not the only productivity game in town," says Terrazas “Anyone who goes to a restaurant or a bar and orders with a QR code on a smartphone — that’s a productivity enhancement that has nothing to do with AI.”

“The reality is small businesses are still adopting technology from the big data, smart room, and touchless revolutions over the past decade," he adds. “These are still filtering down to small businesses and having a real impact on operations.”