Small firms in mainland China adopting AI more readily than large ones, experts say
Industry experts at a forum in Bali suggest that small, family-run businesses in China are adopting AI tools faster than large enterprises. Smaller firms are reportedly more agile and willing to implement agentic technology to digitize operations, whereas large companies face bureaucratic hurdles.
Why it matters
This trend challenges the assumption that AI adoption is driven primarily by large-scale corporate investment, highlighting the role of SMEs in digital transformation.
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 South China Morning Post and Indonesian sovereign wealth fund 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.
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