As my work takes on a new challenge in a divergent market, success is predicated on two business beliefs. (These are just rough thoughts, not yet finalized.)

First, the value prop for AI in the enterprise (competitive advantage) is not the same for AI in small-to-medium business (SMB) (lowering headcount and cost). Obviously, headcount and cost are important for the F500, but these companies have enough mass to manage overhead more effectively than smaller, leaner firms.

Second, execution of AI in the enterprise (at scale) is not the same for AI in SMB (ad hoc). While the challenge in the enterprise is integration and adoption, the challenge for SMB is more primal: Where should we start? And what’s an easy* way to get there?

The AI roadmap for an SMB is not to chase the latest and greatest tech, and be on the bleeding edge. It’s more about reliability and mapping/managing AI to specific tasks. Activities that save hours of time, or reduce the pressure on external costs. Spreading AI across all facets of a business is less important to SMB than finding cost savings, as low-hanging fruit, in specific spots.

Obviously, SMBs should aspire to use AI for more than achieving parity with competitors. But founders – especially those without a technical background – will need help with their “crawl, walk, run” strategy for using AI. And at the SMB level, that strategy may take on different flavors depending on the industry and ingenuity of their employees.

What this means for me (and you, if you are building AI solutions for either market or both) is that your solution may have to speak to two different buyers, each motivated by different means, when it comes to using AI at work.

*Note the distinction between “easiest” and “easy.” SMB isn’t trying find the “best” practice to optimize operations with AI. SMB wins with “good enough” solutions as well. For SMB, achieving parity is sufficient … in other words, there’s no prize in being the best at AI today for SMBs. But there’s real pain if you feel like you’re falling behind vs. your competitors due to AI.