AI Is Changing Small Business Tech This Week

Signage for financial software company Intuit at the company's headquarters in Mountain View, California. (Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)

This week saw significant advancements in small business technology, with a heavy focus on artificial intelligence reshaping everything from accounting to e-commerce and web browsing. Here’s a look at the key developments and what they mean for your business.

Intuit Launches a Revolutionary AI System

Intuit has officially launched Intuit Intelligence and the Intuit Accountant Suite, designed to help businesses navigate the AI era. Intuit Intelligence works to unify a company's data, deploying a team of AI agents that can automate tasks and provide instant answers to complex business questions like, “how do I turn leads into sales?”

Alongside this, the new Accountant Suite provides dedicated AI agents for specific functions:

• A tax sales agent to help businesses maintain compliance.
• A payroll agent to ensure the accuracy of employee hours and facilitate timely payments.
• An accounting agent to organize transactions and minimize numerical errors.

This information comes directly from a recent Intuit press release.

Why This Matters

The biggest hurdle for these new tools will be trust. While the promise of automated back-office accounting is powerful, businesses will likely implement them with scrupulous human oversight, at least initially. For accounting professionals, the path forward is clear: becoming experts in leveraging these AI tools will be crucial for job security. Over time, as these systems are trained and refined, the smart accountant who uses them effectively will become irreplaceable.

PayPal Integrates Its Wallet into ChatGPT

In a major move for AI-driven commerce, PayPal is integrating its wallet directly into ChatGPT. By adopting the Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP), developed by OpenAI and Stripe, PayPal will allow millions of ChatGPT users to check out instantly with merchants who use OpenAI Instant Checkout. This integration offers shoppers multiple funding sources, including bank accounts, PayPal balance, and credit/debit cards. According to a report from Finextra, it also extends PayPal’s buyer/seller protections, post-purchase tracking, and dispute resolution to these transactions.

Why This Matters

ChatGPT is rapidly evolving into an e-commerce platform. For businesses that rely on online sales, the critical question is no longer if AI will be part of the sales process, but how to ensure your products appear in ChatGPT's responses when potential customers are searching. Cracking this code will be essential for future online revenue.

The High Cost of Delayed Email Breach Responses

New research from cybersecurity firm Barracuda Networks reveals a startling connection: organizations that delay their response to email breaches face a 79 percent higher risk of a subsequent ransomware attack. The report, detailed by PR Newswire, surveyed 2,000 IT and security decision-makers across the US, Europe, and Asia-Pacific.

Why This Matters

As Neal Bradbury, chief product officer at Barracuda, stated, "Email security is no longer just about stopping spam... it's about preventing the first domino from falling.” Every small business needs to ensure its employees are trained to identify and report suspicious emails immediately to an IT security firm. A lack of training or a dedicated security partner is a significant vulnerability.

Taxes Remain Top of Mind for Small Business Owners

Data from the banking platform Lili’s “Accountant AI” shows that over half (52 percent) of all financial questions from small business owners are about taxes. The analysis, covered by Yahoo Finance, found that business owners are most concerned with choosing the right tax structure, maximizing deductions, and lowering their liabilities. Another 16 percent of questions focused on understanding and avoiding audits.

Why This Matters

This isn't surprising, as taxes can consume 20-30% of a small business owner's income. Good accountants should be proactive, using AI tools to help clients research tax questions and then verifying and implementing those strategies. Empowering clients with these resources can lead to better financial outcomes.

New AI Browsers Challenge Google Chrome

A new front has opened in the browser wars, with AI-powered browsers like ChatGPT's Atlas and Perplexity's Comet emerging as serious challengers to Google Chrome's long-standing dominance. As reported by Hans India, these new browsers aim to transform web navigation from a passive activity into an active, conversational experience. For example, Comet can synthesize information across multiple open tabs, allowing users to ask questions about the collective content.

Why This Matters

While Chrome is still dominant, the pressure is on. Users increasingly want intelligent assistance—quick, synthesized answers—rather than just a list of links. For a long-time Chrome user to switch, the new browsers will need to deliver on their promise of superior speed, usefulness, and intelligent assistance. This shift signals a broader trend where users expect AI to be deeply integrated into their digital tools.