The SMB AI Revolution: How Trusted Data Unlocks Growth in 2026

By Brandon Taylor, VP Product Management, Markaaz

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Small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) are no longer experimenting with the AI-powered business evolution; they’re accelerating it, and it’s driven by AI and automation. Industry data confirms this shift: Techaisle’s latest report shows AI moving from pilots to full orchestration, with SMBs deploying autonomous AI agents across finance, sales, and IT. Alibaba Cloud’s 2025 survey reinforces the trend, with 96% of SMBs viewing AI and cloud as essential infrastructure for reducing costs, boosting productivity, and future-proofing operations. And according to Thryv, AI adoption among small businesses surged from 39% in 2024 to 55% in 2025, driven by the need for efficiency and customer acquisition.

But here’s the reality: AI success depends on trusted, verified data. Without it, initiatives fail. Businesses who recognize the value of accurate SMB data partner with trusted suppliers to catalyze powerful growth opportunities. That’s where Markaaz comes in.

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Why AI Needs Clean, Verified SMB Data

AI is only as powerful as the data behind it. Predictive models and personalization engines depend on accurate business identity, financial health, and firmographic details to deliver meaningful outcomes. When data is incomplete or inaccurate, the consequences cascade across the business:

• Decision distortion: Skewed or stale data degrades model accuracy, causing the wrong customers to face high friction while truly risky businesses slip through.
• Operational drag: Compliance teams chase false positives, agents are buried in manual reviews, and onboarding workflows slow down.
• Revenue impact: Businesses get mismatched offers, strong customers are overlooked, and teams spend resources cleaning up preventable issues.

Markaaz solves these challenges by providing verified SMB data at scale, ensuring AI-driven driven decisions are reliable, compliant, and impactful.

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Use Cases for SMB AI-powered business evolution

AI-driven transformation is happening across critical SMB workflows, and Markaaz is at the center of it.

• Risk & Financing: Lenders use Markaaz’s real-time SMB data to assess risk and deliver tailored lending solutions.
• Customer lifecycle Marketing: Markaaz enables precise segmentation by size, industry, and growth stage, unlocking true personalization from onboarding through account management.
• Compliance & Fraud Prevention: Markaaz provides trusted data sources for KYB and AML checks, helping enterprises meet regulatory standards with confidence.

These use cases share one common thread: clean, verified SMB data is the foundation for AI to deliver measurable impact.‍

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Practical Roadmap for SMBs and Partners

AI-powered business evolution doesn’t happen overnight. For banks, FinTech's, platforms, and marketplaces serving SMBs, success requires a clear roadmap:

• Phase 1: Establish a solid data foundation, anchored by verified SMB data and strong governance. Setting the groundwork helps AI models run efficiently to unlock new use cases and value through applications, products, and solutions.
• Phase 2: Pilot AI in one high-impact area, such as credit scoring or marketing automation, to prove value and refine workflows. By focusing on one area, companies can optimize solution capabilities and go to market plans while balancing the use of new technologies.
• Phase 3: Scale with orchestration tools and predictive analytics, powered by trusted data, to unlock efficiency and growth. Built for scale to enhance your solutions and operate at a more effective level. Doing things quicker and getting more out of your AI usage. This helps the building blocks above – bringing it all together.

Markaaz enables this journey by delivering the verified SMB data layer that makes every phase successful.

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Conclusion

AI without clean data produces unreliable outcomes. Verified SMB data is the cornerstone of successful AI-powered business evolution. Enterprises that invest in data-driven AI strategies will not only improve operational efficiency but also deepen relationships with SMBs and unlock new growth opportunities. Markaaz positions businesses to lead in the AI era by delivering the trust, accuracy, and scale SMBs need to power smarter decisions and sustainable transformation.

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Ready to accelerate your AI strategy with trusted SMB data?

‍Partner with Markaaz today and unlock the foundation for smarter, faster, and more secure AI-powered business evolution.

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