Artificial intelligence as driver for SME competitiveness

L'intelligenza artificiale sta cambiando profondamente il modo in cui le aziende competono e fanno affari e rappresenta un'opportunità molto interessante per le piccole e medie imprese. Artificial intelligence is profoundly changing the way in which companies compete and do business. In particular, artificial intelligence can represent a very interesting opportunity for small and medium-sized enterprises, which are constantly looking for new technologies to be able to remain competitive in a turbulent market. However, research exploring how SMEs may successfully adopt artificial intelligence technology are missing. To address this gap, the authors reviewed the literature on artificial intelligence and identified four key features that SMEs need to consider when implementing this technology represented by people, processes, products, and customers. After that they described four cases of Italian SMEs which have adopted successfully this new technology taking into account one of the four dimensions. The study contributes to the literature on artificial intelligence and SMEs and may be helpful for managers who want to adopt this technology within their company.