By Nitin Jain, Co-founder & CBO, OfBusiness
As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, Indian Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) are poised to tap into the vast global market. However, the question is, whether they would be able to capitalise the growing opportunities in India and overseas without harnessing the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI)? The answer most likely would be – ‘it’s difficult’.
SME sector, that constitutes a major part of Indian economy, contributing about 30% of GDP and provides jobs for over 110 million people. This sector has scope and thus there is immense hope that it would become a significant contributor to India’s growth story when India aims to become a USD 10 trillion economy.
The growing focus on AI for expansion of business – may it be optimising procurement, credit access, or supply chain resilience, or all – AI could help in enhancing at least 70% improvement in operational efficiency., thus improving top-line as well as bottom-line. Having said this, no doubt a vast segment would still remain underserved due to financial and infrastructural constraints.
With aggressive economic development policies, India, is being looked upon for the supply of not just raw material but also finished good. Here AI would be able to also help in quality checks, logistics, times, monitoring and excellence in overall business operations.
How would an SME know about what is the requirement of global market and how do they access it?
This is where AI comes into play. By leveraging AI-enabled technologies, Indian SMEs can gain a competitive edge in the global market, compete on quality and delivery.
My belief is that few of the key drivers through AI could be:
Enhanced Customer Experience: AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants can help SMEs provide 24/7 customer support, improving response times and customer satisfaction. AI-driven analytics can also enable SMEs to personalise their marketing efforts, leading to increased customer engagement and loyalty.
Optimised Operations: AI can help SMEs streamline their operations by automating repetitive tasks, predicting demand, and optimising supply chain management. This can lead to significant cost savings, improved efficiency, and reduced waste.
Data-Driven Decision Making: AI-powered analytics can provide SMEs with valuable insights into market trends, customer behaviour, and competitor activity. This data-driven approach can enable SMEs to make informed decisions, identify new business opportunities, and stay ahead of the competition.
Access to Global Markets: AI-enabled platforms can connect Indian SMEs with global customers, suppliers, and partners. This can help SMEs expand their export footprint, tap into new markets, and increase their revenue.
To facilitate the adoption of AI among Indian SMEs, the government, industry associations, and technology providers must work together to provide training and capacity-building programs to help SMEs develop AI-related skills, offer affordable access to AI-enabled technologies and platforms, create a supportive ecosystem that encourages innovation and entrepreneurship, and foster collaborations between SMEs, startups, and large enterprises to promote knowledge sharing and co-creation.
In conclusion, Indian SMEs have the potential to become global champions, but they need AI-enabled support to capture the global market.
When India is moving steadily to become the 3rd largest global economies, SMEs are destined to play a decisive role. The contribution of 30% in India GDP would need more pie from SMEs, not just in terms of domestic market, but also increasing substantially the exports – which today stands at about 50%.