The 2025 labor trend index is already here, and indicates a deep change in the way companies will operate and grow. The report reflects the perspectives of organizations of all sizes, and this blog deepens what the data reveals specifically about small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
We have begun to enter a new reality, one in which AI can reason and solve problems in extraordinary ways. For companies of all sizes, this opens a great opportunity to climb faster, move more agility and create value of forms we had never seen. The data and information point to the appearance of a border company (Frontier Firm), one that is based on the available intelligence, the teams of human agents and a new role for all: the agent chief. In the next 2 to 5 years, all organizations will begin their change to become a Border companyand SMEs are especially prepared to lead, with the 81% of their leaders who say this is a crucial year to rethink strategy and operations.1
Like the first to adopt Internet remodeled entire industries, today’s SMEs have a similar opportunity to remodel the future of business. Those who lean, especially with AI, mark a new rhythm of growth, agility and resilience.
Next, the main perspectives of the SMEs of the work Trend Index report and what it means for their leaders are presented.
They can buy barrel intelligence
As economic uncertainty exerts more pressure on small businesses, artificial intelligence, which has begun to become an essential durable good: abundant, affordable and scalable on demand, offers a new and powerful growth lever. The report indicated a capacity gap: 53% of SME leaders say that productivity should increase, but both employees and leaders say that they lack enough time or energy to do their job. An AI that can reason and plan will help close that gap between what SMEs need to do and what their slender equipment (lean) They can do sustainably.
The democratization of intelligence makes AI accessible to companies of all sizes. Almost half of SME leaders (45%) say that expanding the capacity of the equipment with digital labor is a main priority in the next 12 to 18 months, only surpassed by the improvement of the skills of their existing workforce (46%). It’s not just about saving time. It is about unlocking the type of capabilities that were previously out of our reach.
With agents that provide expert level intelligence and functional support on demand, it is now possible that a team of five people operate with the scale and sophistication that were previously reserved for ten times larger companies. A recent example of this is Industrialized Construction Groupan emerging small company that uses AI for everything, from construction simulations to market research, which increases margins by 20%.
Human agents will turn the organization chart
The report also highlights an important change, not only in the way we work, but also in how companies are structured. As agents expand what employees can do, traditional organization charts can give way to dynamic “work graphics”, in which the equipment is formed around the results, not to the departments. It is a model taken from Hollywood: flexible equipment gathered for a task and then dissolved. With agents who act as research assistants, analysts or creative partners, companies can move faster, climb the experience and adapt to demand.
The good news? It is possible that SMEs already have the pan by the handle. With more efficient organizations, less silos and a bias towards action, SMEs are designed for agility. And we have already begun to see that they adopt this new way of working, with 24% of SMEs that use agents today, and an impressive 79% that plans to implement them in the next 12 to 18 months. For example, SuperGood, an agency that gives priority to the AI in which the equipment is more flat, fast and fluids, thanks to an AI platform that puts decades of strategic advertising research within reach of each employee.2 As the co -founder and strategy director Mike Barrett says: “We do not need a strategist in each report, everyone in SuperGood has access to that experience through our platform.”
Each employee becomes an agent chief
In the coming years, employees will not only use AI, but will manage it. Anyone can become chief of agents: through delegating and managing agents to amplify their impact, to work more intelligently, climb faster and take control of their career in the AI era.
It is a change of mentality: go from doing so to delegate yourself to the agents with confidence. Employees will gain influence, scale their production and release time to focus on the work of greater impact. Especially in small businesses, this type of empowerment is not only useful, but transformative.
He 24% of SMEs have already begun to consider hiring AI workforce managers (AI Workforce Managers) to lead hybrid teams of people and agents, and 29% plans to hire specialists in AI agents (ai agent specialists) to design, develop and optimize them in the next 12 to 18 months. Within five years, SME leaders expect the scope of their team to include The redesign of business processes with AI (30%), the creation of multiagente systems to automate complex tasks (34%), the formation of agents (33%) and their management (26%).
In this new work model, being an agent chief is not about doing less, but doing more than what matters most.
Agility is the advantage of small businesses
From solo founders to teams of five people, AI is not only for large companies, but also promotes an increase in small and rapid movement companies. On LinkedIn, The most outstanding startups have grown by 20.6% year -on -year, almost twice the rhythm of large technology (+10.6%). Much of that talent flows from large companies and stays in the world of startups, where the speed to build and adapt is unique. As in the first days of the Internet, we have seen how the rules of growth and competence in real time are rewritten. What is the conclusion for SMEs? Now is the time to act, because in this new era, agility is a superpower.
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Grades
1. Methodology
The findings published in this blog are based on a subset of data on the research of the Microsoft Labor Trends Index, published here. These findings focus specifically on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and are extracted from the responses of 23,744 SME employees in 31 countries. In this year’s sample, the perspectives of SMEs were closely aligned with global results.
The 2025 labor trend index is based on an investigation by Edelman Data X Intelligence, which surveyed 31 thousand knowledge workers employed full or freely in 31 markets between February 6 and March 24, 2025. The 20 -minute online survey was carried out in English or in translated local languages, with a thousand full -time workers surveyed by market. In the United States, an additional sample of 4,500 surveyed in nine metropolitan areas was collected.
In addition to the survey, Microsoft conducted qualitative interviews with scientists, academics, clients, business leaders and startup founders in a variety of industries and business sizes. These conversations helped shape the broadest findings both in the report and in this blog.
2. The SuperGood company emerged from an agency called Supernatural AI.
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