Small and medium businesses are wrestling with a new challenge that’s hiding in plain sight. While company leaders debate AI strategies in boardrooms, their employees have already made the decision for them. Richard Achée, founder of Found42, has spent years helping SMBs navigate this disconnect between official AI policies and actual workplace reality.
Here’s something that might shock business owners: their teams are probably using AI right now. Achée sees this pattern everywhere he goes. “What we’re finding is that many employees are using AI every day. They’re just not necessarily telling you,” he says. It’s not malicious, but it’s happening. Why the secrecy? There are two big reasons, and both make perfect sense. First, nobody knows what they’re supposed to do. “Part of that is because employees may be unaware of what policies exist today. So, there’s a lack of clarity. They’re not sure what tools they can use and how to implement them,” Achée explains. When people don’t know the rules, they just stay quiet. Then there’s the human factor. People find tools that make their jobs easier and they don’t want to share. “Maybe they want to keep their superpowers to themselves. They found some great ways to use AI and it might feel like cheating,” he points out. Can you blame them?
Shifting from Experimenting to Deciding
Companies that want real results need to quit experimenting and start deciding. Achée’s seen too many businesses get stuck trying everything instead of mastering anything. “The best way to make this productive is to actually have clear policies. So tell people what to do and not to do, which tools they can use and what kind of information they can share with these tools.” But policies alone won’t fix the bigger issue. Most SMBs are stuck in what researchers call exploration mode. “Over half of SMBs out there are actually in this exploration mode. They call them AI explorers. That means they’re trying lots of tools,” he says. Here’s where it gets messy. All that exploring creates what Achée calls “half-finished cars sitting on blocks in their yard. And they’re tinkering with these things.” Companies collect AI tools like garage sale finds, never really committing to making any of them work properly. “If you don’t commit to just a handful of tools, you’re going to stay in this experimentation mode and that doesn’t really yield ROI.”
Measuring AI Readiness with Scorecards
Found42 cuts through the noise with something pretty simple: an AI readiness scorecard. It’s just yes or no questions that show businesses where they actually stand. “Through a series of yes, no questions, it gives you a baseline of where you are today,” Achée explains. What they usually find isn’t surprising. “Some people might find that they’re at the beginning stage. They need to do some fundamental things with their data and their policies,” he says. Most companies aren’t ready for the fancy stuff yet. They need to fix basic problems first. Some businesses are further along than they think. “Others may be ahead of the curve. And let’s say, for example, if you’re a B2B SaaS company, there could be an opportunity to integrate AI directly into your core products,” he notes. But you can’t know where you fit until you actually measure.
The whole point isn’t collecting AI tools like Pokemon cards. It’s about finding what actually helps the business grow. Achée puts it simply: “Depending on where you are, your journey and the type of company, there could be different opportunities that are going to present themselves as a priority.” Some companies need employee training. Others need workflow automation. A few are ready for custom development work. The key is picking the right fight instead of fighting every battle at once. That’s how you go from AI experimenter to AI user.
Connect with Richard Achée on LinkedIn to explore practical AI strategies for SMBs.
