Self-employed individuals and small businesses are notably accelerating the adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI). An analysis by the Munich Ifo Institute found that currently, 51.2% of respondents are using AI in their business processes-a significant rise from 30.4% recorded in 2023. Furthermore, another 16.2% plan to integrate AI tools in the near future. This means the gap between the usage rate among these smaller entities and the overall economy’s usage rate (54.5%) is now quite small. Katrin Demmelhuber, an expert at Ifo, noted, “For self-employed people, AI is no longer a future topic. AI tools have become integrated into their everyday work.”
When it comes to AI tools, self-employed individuals primarily rely on external services. Approximately 59% utilize paid AI services, while 53% use free tools. Only 7% rely on AI systems they developed independently. These small businesses mainly deploy AI for research and gathering information, generating ideas, creating text and content, translating materials, and supporting their marketing and sales efforts.
Regarding market sentiment, the business climate for the self-employed and small enterprises showed a moderate improvement in May following the pessimistic mood registered in April. The “Jimdo-ifo Business Climate Index” rose from minus 29.9 points to minus 27.7 points. While dissatisfaction with ongoing operations decreased, self-employed individuals are still looking slightly less pessimistic about the coming months. Despite this small upturn, however, the business climate for these groups remains significantly lower than that of the broader economy. Demmelhuber summarized the situation by saying, “The situation for the self-employed has slightly stabilized, but it remains precarious.”
