Small firms in mainland China adopting AI more readily than large ones, experts say

Smaller, family-run businesses in mainland China are embracing advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) more readily than large enterprises, while market agility and steady power supplies will determine the winners of the global AI race, industry leaders have said at a forum in Indonesia.Panel speakers at the inaugural Nusa Dua Forum in Bali, organised on Friday by the China-morning-post" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="12558" data-entity-type="organization">South China Morning Post and Indonesian sovereign wealth fund Indonesia" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="28064" data-entity-type="organization">Danantara Indonesia, discussed their views on the AI economy and the digital transformation of factories.Zhou Yuxiang, founder and CEO of Shanghai-headquartered industrial software firm Black Lake Technologies, said during one panel discussion that his company had shifted its focus from serving large companies to small and medium-sized enterprises and family-owned or independent businesses in response to demand.“It’s an interesting trend that I feel mom-and-pop shops are more open to agentic technology,” he said.Black Lake Technologies, founded in 2016, develops cloud-based solutions to help factories digitise their manufacturing operations. It also provides tools to help small businesses measure the results and returns from using an AI agent rather than a human worker, so owners can make immediate, practical decisions.“Actually smaller companies are benefiting from it already, but the bigger ones are still talking about it,” Zhou said. “When we talk to large enterprises about AI, their chief risk officers step in. Everyone will have a voice.”