You Are Not Behind

Almost every owner I speak with believes their company is behind on AI. Most are wrong about what they are behind on, and many are wrong about how far.

Let’s start with the second part. Statistics Canada reported that 19.2 percent of Canadian businesses used AI to produce goods or deliver services in the year leading up to spring 2026.¹ Four in five did not. In construction the figure was 9.2 percent, in wholesale trade 7.9 percent, and in agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting 4.5 percent. Companies more than twenty years old adopted at 15.0 percent against 25.0 percent for companies three to ten years old, and rural businesses at 9.9 percent against 21.0 percent in cities.¹

If you run an established company outside a major centre, fewer of your peers are using AI than the conversation around you suggests.

Now back to the first part: most business owners I meet with are wrong about what aspects of AI adoption they are behind on. Awareness of AI is close to universal in this market. Nearly every owner knows it exists and knows peers are experimenting. What is rare is readiness, and readiness is built with three specific things: a decided starting point, agreement among the people who have to approve the budget, and a way to tell afterward whether it worked.

Owners often tell me they need to understand AI better before they can act. But usually they understand it well enough. What they have not done is examine how it is relevant to their business, and that is a solvable problem. It does not require becoming technical. It requires understanding your business well enough to identify areas for high-value improvement.

The pressure you are feeling is real. The gap is smaller than it sounds. And effectively adopting AI is entirely achievable.

Sources

¹ Statistics Canada, “Analysis on artificial intelligence use by businesses in Canada,” based on the Canadian Survey on Business Conditions, second quarter 2026 (collected April 1 to May 6, 2026).