Every AI use case, mapped to the business.
32 use cases owners are being sold this year, sorted by where they act in a business of 5 to 100 people. Only 3 are proven in production.
Cash & finance4
The bloodstream. Getting paid, paying out, and knowing what will be in the bank next month.
Four statuses, one rule: rate the evidence, not the pitch.
Each entry gets a status for how proven it is in businesses of 5 to 100 people, and a separate rating for how strong the evidence behind that status is.
In production
Independent evidence of measurable results, and businesses of 5 to 100 people run it today with off-the-shelf tools.
In this guide: AI invoice and receipt capture, Automated debtor chasing, Duplicate-payment detection
In pilots
Works in some settings, but small-firm evidence is mixed, early or comes from large enterprises.
In this guide: AI bank reconciliation, AI cash-flow forecasting, Ask-your-business chat
Unproven
Mostly vendor claims, demos and anecdotes. No independent results yet.
In this guide: AI quote generation, Discount-creep detection, Supplier price-change monitoring
Cosmetic
Changes how the business looks or how much it produces more than revenue, cost or cash.
In this guide: AI board report drafting, AI-written social content
Evidence strength
How an entry is made
Each entry is drafted from public sources: academic studies, regulators, independent surveys and reputable reporting. Every figure carries a numbered citation you can open. Anything a vendor says about its own product is labelled as a vendor claim.
Review and updates
Every source in this edition was opened and checked against the text in October 2026. Each entry is then signed off by a named operator and re-checked when the evidence moves. Until that sign-off, the entry is marked as a draft at the top of the page.
All use cases at a glance
| Use case | Status | Evidence | Class |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash & finance | |||
| AI invoice and receipt capture | In production | Moderate | Automation |
| Automated debtor chasing | In production | Moderate | Automation |
| AI bank reconciliation | In pilots | Thin | Automation |
| AI cash-flow forecasting | In pilots | Thin | Analytics |
| Leadership & reporting | |||
| Anomaly alerts on key numbers | In pilots | Thin | Analytics |
| Ask-your-business chat | In pilots | Moderate | Analytics |
| Automated weekly management pack | In pilots | Thin | Automation |
| AI board report drafting | Cosmetic | Thin | Generative |
| Pricing & margin | |||
| Dynamic pricing | In pilots | Strong | Automation |
| AI quote generation | Unproven | Thin | Generative |
| Discount-creep detection | Unproven | Thin | Analytics |
| Supplier price-change monitoring | Unproven | Thin | Automation |
| Sales & new business | |||
| AI call notes | In pilots | Moderate | Automation |
| AI lead scoring | In pilots | Thin | Analytics |
| AI proposal drafting | In pilots | Moderate | Generative |
| AI outbound sales agents | Unproven | Thin | Agent |
| Brand, marketing & customers | |||
| AI ad creative generation | In pilots | Moderate | Generative |
| AI review responses | In pilots | Thin | Generative |
| Customer-service chatbots | In pilots | Strong | Agent |
| AI-written social content | Cosmetic | Thin | Generative |
| Stock, supply & fulfilment | |||
| AI demand forecasting | In pilots | Moderate | Analytics |
| Automated reordering | In pilots | Moderate | Automation |
| Delivery exception handling | In pilots | Thin | Automation |
| Freight document extraction | In pilots | Thin | Automation |
| People & payroll | |||
| AI CV screening | In pilots | Moderate | Automation |
| HR policy Q&A assistants | In pilots | Thin | Generative |
| Timesheet and payroll anomaly checks | In pilots | Moderate | Analytics |
| AI onboarding assistants | Unproven | Thin | Generative |
| Risk, compliance & security | |||
| Duplicate-payment detection | In production | Moderate | Analytics |
| AI contract review | In pilots | Moderate | Generative |
| Personal-data mapping | In pilots | Thin | Automation |
| Voice-clone and deepfake fraud defence | In pilots | Thin | Analytics |