For many small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs), artificial intelligence still feels like a luxury — something reserved for enterprises with massive budgets, dedicated data science teams and years of experimentation behind them. That perception is no longer accurate, and it also limits how SMBs compete.

AI has quietly crossed a threshold. Today, the barrier to entry is no longer capital — it’s clarity. The most successful SMBs aren’t asking “Can we afford AI?” They’re asking, “Where does AI create leverage?”

The truth is, when paired with the right cloud and data foundations, AI can deliver meaningful returns without large upfront investments. When SMBs use AI as a force multiplier, they can get real wins with modest spend: faster response cycles, fewer manual hours, higher conversion, tighter forecasting and lower cloud waste. But to make AI economical, you need two disciplines that most companies skip: Measure what matters and keep humans in the loop — a hallmark of AI programs that actually scale beyond pilots.

Below are eight cost-effective ways SMBs can adopt AI strategically, each with clear ROI expectations and simple ways to measure success.

Related: Want Top Tier AI Without The Expensive Price Tag? Here’s a Flexible, Cost-Effective Solution You Need to Try

1. Start with “AI-assisted,” not “AI-replaced,” customer support

The cheapest customer support AI isn’t a bot that “handles everything.” It’s a system that drafts, summarizes, classifies and routes — while a human stays responsible for the final answer on sensitive or high-impact cases.

This approach avoids expensive failure modes (hallucinated answers, tone mismatches, policy mistakes), while still delivering immediate savings. It also builds the usage data you’ll need to improve accuracy over time.

What to measure:

• Ticket deflection rate (how many never reach an agent)

• Average handle time and first-response time

• Containment rate by category (billing vs. technical vs. account access)

2. Build a private “Ask the company” assistant using your existing documents

Most SMBs already own the raw materials for a great internal assistant: SOPs, onboarding docs, proposals, product notes, support macros, pricing rules. The bottleneck is access — people can’t find the right answer fast enough.

A cost-effective pattern is a retrieval-based assistant (often called RAG): The model doesn’t need to “know” your company; it needs the ability to retrieve the right sources and answer with citations.

This is cheaper than training a model and safer than letting a general model guess. It also maps to trustworthy AI expectations — reliability, transparency and governance — without a heavyweight compliance program.

What to measure:

• Time-to-answer for internal questions (sales enablement, ops, support)

• Onboarding ramp time

• Percentage of answers that include an internal source link (traceability)

3. Make your data “AI-ready” with a minimum viable analytics layer

Many SMB AI efforts fail for a simple reason: They try to do “AI” before they can do “truth.”

You don’t need a massive data platform. You need a minimum viable analytics layer:

• One consistent definition of revenue, churn, margin, CAC/LTV

• One place to query operational truth

• A repeatable way to ingest key sources (CRM, billing, product usage, support)

This is where cloud-native tooling shines: You can centralize analytics without buying racks or hiring a platform team. And once the business metrics are trustworthy, AI becomes cheaper because you spend less time reconciling contradictions.

What to measure:

• “Metric dispute rate” (how often teams disagree on the number)

• Time to produce weekly executive metrics

• Data freshness for critical dashboards

Related: How Small and Mid-Sized Businesses Can Leverage AI to Compete With Large Companies

4. Use AI to monitor and explain your business signals

Dashboards don’t create action. Alerts do.

A practical, low-cost AI win is adding a layer that:

• Detects anomalies (traffic drops, refund spikes, conversion dips)

• Summarizes what changed in plain language

• Points to likely drivers (channel mix, region, SKU, cohort)

This is a better first “analytics AI” project than forecasting, because it improves decision speed immediately and creates a habit of operational learning.

What to measure:

• Mean time to detect (MTTD) and mean time to respond (MTTR)

• Number of “surprise” incidents that reached customers

• Percentage of anomalies with a validated root cause

5. Optimize cloud spend with built-in recommendation engines

If your cloud bill is growing and you’re not actively managing it, you’re paying a tax.

Most SMBs don’t need a FinOps team to start. The major clouds already provide recommendation systems that flag underutilized resources, rightsizing opportunities, idle assets and commitment discounts:

• AWS provides rightsizing recommendations in Cost Explorer and workload recommendations via Compute Optimizer.

• Azure Cost Management integrates with Azure Advisor cost recommendations to identify idle/underutilized resources.

• Google Cloud provides Committed Use Discount recommendations and analysis tools for optimizing commitments.

You don’t have to “do everything.” Pick one: rightsizing, shutting down non-prod at night or commitment planning. Any one of those can pay for your AI initiatives.

What to measure:

• Cloud cost per customer/per transaction

• Idle resource count over time

• Savings realized vs. identified

6. Use AI to improve marketing output and feedback loops

SMBs often use AI to generate more content. The better move is to generate better experiments.

Use AI to:

• Draft variations of landing pages and ads

• Propose messaging aligned to each segment

• Summarize campaign performance and recommend next tests

But keep the loop tight: Content is cheap; learning is valuable.

What to measure:

• Conversion lift vs. control

• Cost per qualified lead (not just clicks)

• Experiment velocity (tests per month)

7. Forecast demand with “good enough” models before you chase perfect accuracy

Forecasting can be expensive when it becomes a science fair. Keep it economical:

• Start with baseline models using your own sales history and seasonality

• Incorporate operational constraints (lead times, minimum order quantities)

• Add external signals only if they improve outcomes

Even small improvements reduce stockouts, waste and cash tied up in inventory.

What to measure:

• Forecast error vs. your current baseline

• Stockout rate and overstock rate

• Inventory turnover/cash conversion cycle

Related: How Small Businesses Can Leverage AI Without Breaking the Bank

8. Productize AI through small, measurable workflow upgrades

The fastest way to waste money on AI is to buy a “platform” before you’ve earned a use case.

A better pattern (and the one you see in higher-performing AI organizations) is to pick workflows where:

Examples: proposal drafting with approved language, sales call summaries into CRM fields, invoice classification, contract clause extraction, QA test generation or customer feedback clustering.

What to measure:

AI doesn’t have to be expensive. But it does have to be managed.

Use trustworthy practices (human validation where it matters, clarity on risk, traceability to sources), ground AI in clean metrics, and make cloud costs a lever — not an accident. That’s how SMBs turn AI from hype into a durable advantage.

For many small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs), artificial intelligence still feels like a luxury — something reserved for enterprises with massive budgets, dedicated data science teams and years of experimentation behind them. That perception is no longer accurate, and it also limits how SMBs compete.

AI has quietly crossed a threshold. Today, the barrier to entry is no longer capital — it’s clarity. The most successful SMBs aren’t asking “Can we afford AI?” They’re asking, “Where does AI create leverage?”

Since 2019, a Colorado-based craft brewery has been quietly building its profile from up-and-comer to industry threat. In that time, they’ve become the state’s most-awarded brewery.

From lagers with international acclaim to West Coast IPAs earning gold in some of the industry’s most hotly contested fields, Westbound & Down’s trajectory looks clear.

It’s not just beer, either. Their world-class brewpub, hospitality programs, food, and design are earning praise and attention from critics, beer fans, and investors alike.

And after their 25+ major awards helped put them on the map, their newly earned title of Brewery of the Year at the 2025 Great American Beer Festival cements their place among the most respected names in craft beer.

That said, it’s one thing to covet the crown. It’s another entirely to know how to use it to build an empire. And with the craft beer industry expected to grow to $282 billion by 2032, Westbound & Down’s team will be the first to tell you that they’re just getting started.

And with ambitious plans to scale and unlock exponential growth, investors are taking advantage of their change to join ahead of that next chapter.

A different kind of brewery, a different kind of growth model

Westbound & Down operates under a simple premise: put hospitality and quality first, and the rest will follow.

That’s why their model features more than retail sales and beer. They blend elevated brewpub experiences, premium food, and community-first culture with their award-winning reputation. The result: a brand that turns casual drinkers into lifelong supporters and grows without sacrificing quality.

It’s how Westbound & Down has achieved 2,800%+ distribution growth since 2019, the company says. But even more notable is how they’ve managed that growth without chasing trends or cutting corners.

Traction that tells a story

Westbound & Down’s success extends beyond podiums. Their growth has been achieved through a blend of retail and brewpub channels. And investors have made it clear they see the value.

• 900+ retail accounts and climbing, including a Whole Foods retail partnership
• New flagship brewpub launching just outside Denver
• Previous investment round maxed out in less than 60 days

Consumer demand in Colorado is still outpacing supply, with plans to expand in-state sales 3X within the next 30 months.

With requests for distribution from six additional states, this is just the beginning of their long-term vision to turn Westbound & Down into a go-to name industry-wide. And with the help of investors, they’re already delivering on their promises.

Growth powered by investors like you

Some companies make lofty promises to investors and never deliver. Others use those dollars to unlock new levels of scale.

Westbound & Down raised money earlier this year to add production capacity and help fuel the buildout of their soon-to-open Denver metro area location. Those dollars are already being put to good use, with a recent first-look revealed of this new location and more growth ahead.

But this current raise is all about unlocking entirely new levels of scale, with goals of quadrupling their brewing capacity by 2028 to power even broader growth. And they’re giving investors like you the chance to get a piece of what’s ahead.

And for $735.75, you can own early-stage equity in this fast-growing brand at a pivotal stage.

To learn more about this opportunity or to become an investor, go to invest.westboundanddown.com.

This is a paid advertisement for Westbound & Down’s Regulation CF offering. Please read the offering circular at https://invest.westboundanddown.com/

Since 2019, a Colorado-based craft brewery has been quietly building its profile from up-and-comer to industry threat. In that time, they’ve become the state’s most-awarded brewery.

From lagers with international acclaim to West Coast IPAs earning gold in some of the industry’s most hotly contested fields, Westbound & Down’s trajectory looks clear.

It’s not just beer, either. Their world-class brewpub, hospitality programs, food, and design are earning praise and attention from critics, beer fans, and investors alike.

Kiyomura Corp., the company behind the Sushi Zanmai restaurant chain, shelled out $3.24 million for a 536-pound bluefin tuna at Tokyo’s first fish auction of 2026. The winning bid broke the company’s own 2019 record of $2.1 million.

Owner Kiyoshi Kimura, known affectionately as the “Tuna King,” told reporters he didn’t expect to pay so much but couldn’t resist when he saw the premium fish. The prized tuna was caught off the coast of Oma in northern Japan.

Despite the eye-watering price tag of roughly $6,060 per pound, Kimura plans to serve the fish at standard menu prices across all Sushi Zanmai locations nationwide. He called the purchase “good luck” for the new year.

Read more

Kiyomura Corp., the company behind the Sushi Zanmai restaurant chain, shelled out $3.24 million for a 536-pound bluefin tuna at Tokyo’s first fish auction of 2026. The winning bid broke the company’s own 2019 record of $2.1 million.

Owner Kiyoshi Kimura, known affectionately as the “Tuna King,” told reporters he didn’t expect to pay so much but couldn’t resist when he saw the premium fish. The prized tuna was caught off the coast of Oma in northern Japan.

Despite the eye-watering price tag of roughly $6,060 per pound, Kimura plans to serve the fish at standard menu prices across all Sushi Zanmai locations nationwide. He called the purchase “good luck” for the new year.

Read more

When Americans want a high-energy, entertainment-packed spectacle, they head to Las Vegas. For a tropical getaway in Mexico, it’s usually Tulum or Cancún. But Ivan Chávez, executive vice president of Grupo Vidanta, is charting a different course — one lit by torches and traveled by gondola.

The son of legendary Mexican entrepreneur Daniel Chávez Morán, who founded luxury resort developer Grupo Vidanta more than 50 years ago, Chávez is helping reimagine what a world-class resort experience in Mexico can look like.

“Our ultimate goal for a long time has been to make sure that Mexico can compete on the global stage — at the very top of anything we do,” he says.

Chávez oversees Vidanta World, an enormous resort complex in Nuevo Vallarta. Think Disneyland with more class — and without the characters. Tourism is one of Mexico’s most powerful industries, he notes, but it’s also fiercely competitive.

“You’re not just competing locally,” Chávez says. “You’re competing with Las Vegas, Orlando, even Asia. So whenever we build something here, we’re building it for the global market.”

For Chávez, Vidanta World is about consolidating the best elements of a great vacation — gourmet dining, luxury accommodations and pristine beaches — into a single immersive destination. Hence the term “world.”

That vision is reflected in everything from high-end hotels and sprawling pools to unconventional offerings like BON Luxury Theme Park, an amusement park designed to eliminate the long wait times that frustrate visitors at traditional parks, a la Cartmanland from South Park.

But the most ambitious addition to Vidanta World’s entertainment lineup is LUDŌ by Cirque du Soleil, a first-of-its-kind, resident show created exclusively for the resort.

“We believe combining the best of Mexico with the best of global entertainment is critical to delivering that vision,” Chávez says. “That’s why we partnered with Cirque du Soleil.”

Related: What Sparks the World’s Most Successful Startups? The Answer Might Surprise You.

From high wire to deep water

LUDŌ draws loose inspiration from Cirque du Soleil’s iconic aquatic O show in Las Vegas — but legendary director Michele Laprise had no interest in repeating what had already been done.

“I said no three times to this show, even after they had started building the theater,” Laprise says. “The original idea included a small amount of water onstage, but I told them that wasn’t enough.”

Instead, Laprise pushed for a production built around underwater performances that many considered impossible. It quickly became clear that LUDŌ would be as much an engineering and construction challenge as it was a theatrical one.

“When you’re performing below the surface, it’s a different game,” Laprise says. “You get to invent new ways to design props that stay underwater.” Costumes, makeup, and lighting all behave differently in water, requiring the creative team to rethink every detail.

To make it work, the production was built with a hidden backstage above the aquariums, complete with overhead lighting and access points invisible to the audience. Even the stage itself evolved: what began as a concrete floor was replaced with plexiglass, allowing light to shine up through the performers and heightening the immersive effect. The theater’s circular design was intentional.

“There are no corners for the energy to stop,” Laprise says. “It’s the most enjoyable creation I’ve done.”

Talking the tightrope

Chávez had Cirque du Soleil in mind long before LUDŌ existed, which made selling the idea of a massive, purpose-built theater easier than it might otherwise have been. He recalls an early meeting with his father about plans to create a village within Vidanta World, anchored by a signature theater.

“One of the junior architects had written Cirque du Soleil — misspelled — on the floor plan,” Chávez says. “I was like, ‘You guys are talking to Cirque? This is amazing. How did you pull that off?”

They hadn’t. Cirque du Soleil was simply a placeholder, and no conversations had begun. So Chávez decided to start them himself. He cold-emailed the company, which led to a phone call, and then another.

“This was before people were really used to being spammed,” he says. “So I was very direct, probably a bit of a spammer. Every time I didn’t hear back, my emails got more exciting. I’d follow up and say, ‘You HAVE to hear this idea.’”

Chávez now knows the person he first reached wasn’t anywhere near decision-making level. Still, persistence paid off. He secured a meeting at Cirque du Soleil’s headquarters in Montreal.

“They shut us down at first,” he says. “They told us, ‘We can build shows anywhere in the world—why would we come to Mexico?’ So we had to make the case. We proposed something truly unique and asked to do a feasibility study to prove it.”

The results weren’t encouraging. A joint study of the Cancún market came back negative.

“They said there wasn’t enough demand in that tourist destination for a Vegas-style show,” Chávez recalls. “On top of that, visitors to Mexico want to be by the pool or on the beach— they’re not going to sacrifice dinner plans to see a show.”

Undeterred, Chávez and his father kept pushing, suggesting a dinner show with half the seats at twice the price.

“We ran a big experiment in Riviera Maya, and it taught us a lot,” he says. “The audience satisfaction for that show ended up being among the highest of any Cirque production.”

Related: Twitter and Pinterest Founders Create New Social Media App

Sticking the landing

Suffice it to say, a lot had occurred before the idea of building a human aquarium was ever floated to Chávez. But once it was, he was already in too deep to say no.

“I get excited with entrepreneurs because there’s always a gap between where they are and where their idea could go,” he says. “Steve Wynn used to say the job is figuring out how to build the bridge between the two. That’s where you bring people in, and sometimes destiny steps in as well. I felt the planets were aligned for this show to happen.”

When Americans want a high-energy, entertainment-packed spectacle, they head to Las Vegas. For a tropical getaway in Mexico, it’s usually Tulum or Cancún. But Ivan Chávez, executive vice president of Grupo Vidanta, is charting a different course — one lit by torches and traveled by gondola.

The son of legendary Mexican entrepreneur Daniel Chávez Morán, who founded luxury resort developer Grupo Vidanta more than 50 years ago, Chávez is helping reimagine what a world-class resort experience in Mexico can look like.

“Our ultimate goal for a long time has been to make sure that Mexico can compete on the global stage — at the very top of anything we do,” he says.

If you’re an entrepreneur, chances are you’ve raised “private capital” in some form to grow your business. But have you ever thought about becoming an investor?

Private capital — investments made outside of the public markets — were once seen as the exclusive territory of institutional investors or multi-millionaires. But today it’s almost mainstream, and increasingly, it’s a space where successful founders and business owners can participate, not just to potentially grow wealth, but to align investments with values, passions and long-term vision.

And for a business owner or family looking to outperform, keep up with inflation and try to “beat the [public] market,” private capital can allow you to take the playbook you used to build your business — and apply it to your own family’s portfolio.

And while you don’t need to be part of the financial elite to take part, you do need to be thoughtful about it, get the right advice and stick to a plan.What counts as private capital?

Private capital refers to investments made in privately held assets — things that don’t trade on the public stock market. Broadly, these include:

• Private equity, where you invest in privately owned companies, often through funds or direct deals. This can span a company’s life-cycle (from startups and venture capital through to growth equity and finally to leveraged buyouts or LBOs).
• Private credit, which includes lending to businesses and on assets outside of traditional banking channels.
• Private real assets, like real estate, infrastructure, farmland or energy projects.
• Opportunistic or uncollateralized investments, which might include emerging segments such as sports teams, collectibles or ownership stakes in niche assets.

These opportunities generally offer the potential for higher returns than their public market equivalents, but they come with trade-offs: less liquidity, longer time horizons and a need for more due diligence. For business owners used to making strategic decisions under uncertainty, that may feel less like a drawback — and more like familiar ground.

Related: I’ve Interviewed Over 100 Entrepreneurs Who Started Businesses Worth $1 Million to $1 Billion or More. Here’s Some of Their Best Advice.

From operator to investor

Most entrepreneurs are natural private capitalists — they just don’t always recognize it.

You’ve built something from nothing. You’ve taken on risk, raised funds, optimized for growth and learned how to read a balance sheet backward and forward. Those instincts translate well into the private capital world.

What’s more, private capital offers a way to stay close to the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Whether you’re supporting the next wave of founders, helping scale solutions in industries you care about or investing in the built environment of the communities you live in, these investments aren’t always just passive holdings. They can, in some cases, be participatory.

And they can also be personal.

How to get started: A practical primer for entrepreneurs

You don’t need to reinvent your investment strategy overnight. If you’re curious about adding private capital to your portfolio, you should always talk to an advisor, but here are four ways to get started:

1. Start small and think long-term. Private capital isn’t about quick wins. Returns often take years to materialize. Begin with a modest allocation—something you can afford to keep illiquid—and give it time to work. A typical minimum might be a $250,000 investment.
2. Diversify your bets. Just like with public markets, diversification matters. You’ll want to consider spreading your capital across asset types (equity, credit, real assets) and across themes or sectors that interest you. For example, you might back a clean energy fund, participate in a real estate project and still make space for that promising early-stage company in your industry.
3. Know your liquidity needs. Private capital requires patience — and access. We always advise clients to make sure they’ve covered near- and mid-term cash needs before they commit. Private investments are usually locked up for years, and early exits can be expensive or unavailable.
4. Prioritize alignment and access. Great private investments tend to be relationship-based. That can mean investing through trusted managers or pooling resources with like-minded peers. Pay close attention to the incentives: Are the managers putting their own capital in? Are the fees structured in your favor? Transparency and alignment matter more here than almost anywhere else.

Related: Why Founders Outside Silicon Valley Have an Advantage

Private capital as a long-term strategy

You may have heard the proverb, “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The next best time to plant a tree is today.”

Often attributed to Chinese wisdom, the exact source is unknown, but the intention is incredibly relevant to the idea that an investing strategy, including one focused on private capital, is a strategy that benefits from a long-term investment horizon.

If you’re an entrepreneur, chances are you’ve raised “private capital” in some form to grow your business. But have you ever thought about becoming an investor?

Private capital — investments made outside of the public markets — were once seen as the exclusive territory of institutional investors or multi-millionaires. But today it’s almost mainstream, and increasingly, it’s a space where successful founders and business owners can participate, not just to potentially grow wealth, but to align investments with values, passions and long-term vision.

Last year, I jumped off that corporate ladder.

For too long, I was chasing the corporate dream of a glass corner office with a city view. I was racing to get bigger, better titles and more money. I was eager to make sure I had enough boxes under me on that org chart to show how big my team was. I was seeking validation.

And then, I decided to jump off. I decided to go and chase my dream as a full-time writer, as I just published my second book, and to pursue other avenues of interest. In a time when job security no longer exists, I decided to take a bet — to take a chance on myself.

But those around me haven’t quite been able to grasp what I am doing. “Don’t worry,” a friend said to me recently. “It’s a tough market. But you are super talented and will find another job soon.”

Others have been more direct, and perhaps not as kind, peppering with all sorts of comments and questions:

• “Are you taking a step back? I am sure you are tired. Go ahead and rest.”
• “Have you lost your drive? Makes sense after dealing with corporate America.”
• “Are you just not as ambitious anymore? What happened?”

And then I saw a new national survey commissioned by Chief and conducted by The Harris Poll. It revealed exactly what I, and so many women, have been feeling. We aren’t stepping back from leadership: We are redesigning ambition on our own terms.

“We’re calling BS on the narrative that women leaders are dialing back their ambition,” Sabrina Caluori, chief marketing officer at Chief, and Libby Rodney, chief strategy officer at The Harris Poll said. “It’s not fading, it’s on fire.”

Here are three ways I am redefining leadership on my own terms along with so many other women.

Related: We Must Teach Our Daughters to Stand Up For Themselves at Work — 3 Lessons as a Woman in Corporate America

1. Reclaiming what ambition looks like

According to the Chief and The Harris Poll survey, 86% of senior women leaders say they’re more ambitious now than they were five years ago. And yet, when we make decisions for our careers that don’t align with the status quo or the traditional definition of corporate ambition, we are labeled as simply giving up. I know for me, and so many other women, ambition is multilayered. I am more invested in my financial success and the financial success of those around me. I want the ability to call the shots and make decisions about my career. And I am no longer chasing titles and proximity to power; I am chasing time and flexibility.

2. Reimagining our careers

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 450,000 women have dropped out of the U.S. labor market since January. This is one of the steepest declines recorded (not including the pandemic.) Black/African American women have a higher unemployment rate than other groups of women. There are a number of reasons, including layoffs, forced mandates back to the office, burnout, inability to make career progress and more.

In fact, 82% of women surveyed agreed with this statement: “The changing economy has made my current career progression less reliable, so I’m opening myself up to new pathways of progression.” No longer can we really have a single income stream; loyalty in the workplace is dead.

Like many women, I am multi-hypenated. I have multiple professional identities at once: I am a best-selling author. I am a board member. I am a workplace strategist. I am a keynote speaker. I am an advisor to the C-suite. In this market, I am building a diverse portfolio of possibilities. The old playbook is dead, and the path to success is no longer linear.

Related: Stop Telling Women to ‘Smile More’— It’s Time to End This Workplace Double Standard

3. Surrounding ourselves with other ambitious women

As I have stepped off that corporate ladder and into this new season of my career, I will admit that it can at times feel unsettling and lonely. And with so much economic uncertainty, I am reminded that my network is my networth. So many women have bought my books, recommended me for board opportunities, hired me to do strategy work, nominated me to do the keynote at a conference and more.

Two-thirds of women believe their problem-solving is accelerated when they are working through business challenges with other women leaders, according to the study. Rather than begging for a seat at a table where there’s no chair for me, I am ready to build my own table. And I am doing just that with other ambitious women, whose ideas, energy and support me fuel me to chase my dreams. I realize now that ambition isn’t about getting to the top of that ladder, about arriving at the end, to that final destination. It’s about evolving, it’s about the journey, it’s about we are redefining what ambition looks like, on our terms. Boldly and unapologetically.

Last year, I jumped off that corporate ladder.

For too long, I was chasing the corporate dream of a glass corner office with a city view. I was racing to get bigger, better titles and more money. I was eager to make sure I had enough boxes under me on that org chart to show how big my team was. I was seeking validation.