Free tool // The SMB AI Readiness Checklist

How AI-ready is your business, honestly?

Twenty yes/no questions an owner can answer without calling IT. Check what's true today — not what you're planning — and you'll get a straight read on whether AI would pay off for you now, including "not yet" if that's the honest answer.

20 questions~3 minutesScore updates live below

01Where your answers live

Your prices, quoting rules, or rate sheets exist in writing somewhereA spreadsheet counts. "It's in my head" doesn't. Customer history lives in a system, not only in memoryA CRM, an inbox, even a well-kept spreadsheet. At least some of your how-we-do-things is written downMessy docs and old emails count — AI is good at messy. You could export your data from your main tools if you had toIf a vendor holds your data hostage, fix that first.

02Your tools

The core of the business runs on cloud toolsEmail, files, accounting — reachable from a browser. Fewer than ~10 tools carry the real weightSprawl is workable; total chaos makes everything slower. Someone can grant and revoke logins when people join or leaveIf nobody owns access, AI shouldn't get access either. Your books are current within about a monthAI on stale numbers just gives you confident wrong answers.

03The pain is real

The same questions get asked every week"What did we quote them?" "Where's the Henderson file?" You can name one process everyone agrees is a time sink You know roughly where hours leak each weekChasing status, re-finding info, redoing work. Something breaks or stalls when one specific person is outThe "ask Dave" problem. AI fixes this one well.

04Your people

An owner or leader actually wants this to workDelegated-and-forgotten AI projects die quietly. One person could be the internal point of contactA few hours in week one, minutes after that. Someone on the team already uses ChatGPT or similar on their ownInformal use is a green flag, not a threat. You'd change one workflow, not bet the companyAppetite for a narrow win beats appetite for a revolution.

05Guardrails

You know which data is sensitivePayroll, HR, contracts, medical — you can name it. You can say who should see whatEven roughly: "warehouse shouldn't see payroll" counts. You'd want answers to show their sourcesIf you'd accept a black box, be careful out there. A human would review anything customer-facingAI drafts, people send. That's the safe default.

Your score: 0/20

Check the boxes above that are true today. Your read appears here.

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