Swiss SMEs ramp up adoption of AI in workplaces

More Swiss companies are integrating AI into work processes and testing new applications. Keystone-SDA / Christian Beutler

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly being used by Swiss small-and-medium enterprises (SMEs) according to a survey by research institute Sotomo.

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This is especially the case for translation and correspondence. Around half of the 300 companies surveyed use AI in this area.

AI is also popular for advertising texts (38%). This is the result of a study conducted by the research institute Sotomo on behalf of the insurer Axa, which was published on Wednesday.

However, the application possibilities are increasingly expanding: 34% of companies use AI to optimise work tasks compared to 23% in 2024. Some 32% of companies use it for data analyses (previous year: 22%).

Overall, the use of AI has increased significantly within a year. The proportion of SMEs that consciously integrate AI into their work processes has risen from 22% to 34%, according to the report. Some 37% of the companies surveyed are testing AI, compared to 33% in 2024.

In contrast, the proportion of non-users has shrunk. Only 29% of companies would still do without artificial intelligence. In the previous year, this figure was just under half.

“This increase in the use of AI shows that such applications are also becoming increasingly unavoidable for SMEs,” explained Axa Switzerland expert Kathrin Braunwarth. Many have left the trial phase behind them and are now consciously integrating AI into their work processes.

This development has also had an impact on the perception of the technology: 45% now rate AI as positive for their company. Last year, this figure was only 35%. At the same time, the negative perception fell to 13% (previous year: 20%). “60% of these SMEs see AI as an opportunity, only 8% as a threat,” it said.

Pros and cons

Among SMEs that use AI, 57% reported time savings (previous year: 46%). However, according to the companies surveyed, the impact on jobs remains low and is currently even net positive: only 2% of SMEs stated that they could currently do without staff due to the time saved by AI. In contrast, 10% stated that the use of AI had led to an increase in jobs.

AI is therefore currently having less of an impact on the number of jobs than on staff requirements: a third of the SMEs surveyed with AI experience stated that the use of AI was changing the requirements profile for employees. “In order to keep up with the AI trend, many companies are specifically looking for specialists who have technological skills and are willing to participate in continuous further training,” explained Sotomo Director Michael Hermann.

The survey was conducted March 3-10, 2025 among a total of 300 SMEs from German- and French-speaking Switzerland.

Translated from German by DeepL/jdp

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