The numbers
- 36% of NZ SMEs say they proactively use AI, up from 32% the year before (MYOB Business Monitor 2026, 1,026 owners, managers and directors).
- Use rises with size: 30% of businesses with 1 to 5 staff, 64% of those with 20 or more.
- The most common uses: social and marketing content (38%), marketing copy (28%), technical documents (26%), market analysis (25%), and HR and recruitment (23%).
What holds people back
- Privacy and data security: named by 40% of Xero's SME customers who don't use AI, or use it less.
- Not trusting the quality of the output: 37%.
- What they say would help most: practical training (47%), vetted tools (46%) and case studies (43%).
Good to know
Check who was asked before quoting a number. Some widely shared "NZ business" AI figures come from large organisations or self-selected online surveys, not small businesses.
Source: MYOB Business Monitor 2026, reported by IT Brief, 4 August 2026; Xero survey of 1,081 NZ SME customers with The Purpose Business, May 2026
