For entrepreneurs, AI is now serious business. More than three in four now have at least partially integrated AI, and one in ten report full integration across their business processes.

That’s the word from a new EY survey of 500 US-based, established entrepreneurs with annual revenues of $5 million or more. Entrepreneurs increasingly expect AI investments to produce measurable business outcomes, particularly in revenue growth through sales and marketing, customer experience and operational efficiency, the survey shows.

Entrepreneurs whose organizations have invested in AI ranked the top 3 areas they expect AI to deliver the most value for their business: Revenue growth through sales and marketing 57%

Cost reduction in operations 55%

Customer experience 49%

Product/service innovation 48%

Back-office efficiency 47%

Workforce efficiency 43%

For entrepreneurs, AI investments need to show hard returns. Tellingly, more than one-third of entrepreneurs in the survey report actually reducing spending on technology tools, including AI, during the past year, EY found. “Many organizations still struggle to consistently determine AI’s impact,” the study’s authors explain. They want to know: show us the money.

Scaling AI remains a challenge, with data readiness, integration complexity, talent and security among the leading barriers. At the same time, 99% of respondents have established approaches to managing AI security and data risks.

Redesigning work – not reducing headcount – is top of mind for most entrepreneurs. Nearly nine in 10 (88%) expect their workforce to grow over the next 12 months. "As routine tasks become automated, employees can focus more on judgment, creativity, problem-solving and customer relationships,: the survey’s authors suggest.

Despite operating in a challenging business environment, 88% expect their workforce to grow over the next year. At the same time, nearly all respondents expect AI to reshape workforce strategy, with 42% redesigning roles to combine human and technological capabilities.

Tellingly, more than a third (37%) cite talent as a barrier to growth, while nearly half (46%) identify talent and expertise as barriers to scaling AI. At the same time, resistance to AI adoption, both from gaps in expertise (16%) and workforce hesitation (13%), is slowing progress.

Role redesign sits alongside increased hiring for AI and digital talent (35%) and large-scale reskilling and upskilling (38%), broadly aligning with how larger enterprises are evolving.

The EY team makes the following recommendations to entrepreneurs seeking to scale their businesses using AI:

  • Build connected AI workflows. “Start with one high‑impact process and integrate AI across it end to end, so insights and outputs flow across decisions," the EY team recommends.
  • Keep humans in the loop. “ Define where and how AI can be used in the business, from data handling to customer interactions, and embed human checkpoints for high‑stakes decisions.”
  • Prioritize outcomes over experimentation. “Focus AI efforts on clear business goals like revenue growth, cost reduction or customer experience, and test them within live workflows.”
  • Emphasize human-AI collaboration. “Shift work so people focus on interpreting outputs, making decisions and applying judgment to reallocate human effort where it matters most.”
  • Invest in AI talent development. “Prioritize targeted upskilling and reskilling in areas with critical gaps. Blend hiring for critical digital roles with reskilling existing employees, and supplement with external talent where needed."