Built for Enterprise, Priced Out for SMEs: Closing the Emerging Tech Access Gap

A report by Google and the India SME Forum found that AI adoption by India's MSMEs could unlock more than US$490 billion in economic value, and that number sits inside a pattern that isn't unique to India. OECD data shows that each wave of digital adoption has widened, not narrowed, the gap between SMEs and large enterprises: cloud adoption gaps grew even as SME uptake rose, and AI is following the same trajectory, with large firms adopting AI at more than three times the rate of small ones. Limited access to compute, skilled labour, and capital means this next wave of AI-led transformation risks further locking SMEs out of gains at a scale the world has not yet seen.

This roundtable, held under Chatham House Rule, convenes policymakers, industry associations, multilateral organisations, investors, banks, and technology providers best positioned to close this gap. Discussants will explore whether AI adoption genuinely changes SME bankability and risk profiles, the interventions policymakers, industry associations, and investors can make to improve the structural conditions that enable access for SMEs, and the concrete strategies for AI adoption that SMEs can undertake to reduce costs and increase revenue.

Discussion topics:
- Does AI adoption make SMEs more bankable, or does it just widen the gap between those who can adopt and those who can't?
- Where should capital for SME tech and talent investment come from: banks, multilaterals, or the private sector building the tools?
- What does purpose-built access to AI and compute look like for SMEs?
- Which emerging-tech strategies pay for themselves fastest — cost reduction, revenue growth, or both?