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A Meta-commissioned YouGov survey found that 76% of nearly 4,000 small-business owners across nine Asia-Pacific markets said AI had a positive impact on productivity over the past 12 months. The online survey also found that 86% wanted more guidance, with training costs cited as a leading barrier.
More than three-quarters of small-business owners surveyed across nine Asia-Pacific markets said AI had a positive effect on productivity over the past 12 months, according to findings Meta released from a YouGov study. The online survey also found that 84% were using AI and 86% said small businesses need more guidance to get its full benefits.
The survey covered 3,983 small-business owners in Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, Taiwan, India, Thailand, Japan and Hong Kong. Meta commissioned the research, and YouGov conducted it online from August 6 to September 2, 2026. The reported productivity finding refers to owners who said AI had a positive impact; it is not a measurement of productivity gains across all businesses.
Seventy-one percent of respondents said AI had positively affected revenue or sales during the previous 12 months. Four in five said AI helps small businesses compete more effectively with larger companies, and the same share said it makes starting a business easier. Another 83% agreed AI allows small businesses to do things that previously required substantially more money or resources. These are survey responses, not independently verified business outcomes.
Among respondents who reported a positive productivity impact, 58% said they used saved time to improve existing work, 50% put it toward growth and business planning, and 46% said their team got more done. Among owners whose businesses had used AI in the past year, common applications included content creation or editing (51%), local advertising and marketing (43%), translation (38%), and customer support or communications (37%).
AI Use Is Outpacing Small-Business Support
The findings point to a gap between AI adoption and practical support. While 84% of those surveyed said their business was already using AI, 86% said small businesses need more guidance to gain its full benefits. The survey suggests that access alone may not answer owners’ questions about selecting tools, managing costs or using AI appropriately.
Training costs were the leading barrier, cited by 51% of respondents. Owners also said they wanted clearer information about costs and return on investment, plus guidance on data privacy and security. Those concerns matter for small firms that may have less time and fewer staff to evaluate tools than larger companies. The survey does not establish that AI caused reported gains in productivity or sales, but it records how owners describe its effects and what support they say they need.
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What Owners Use AI For
The study’s reported uses span everyday business tasks rather than one specific technology or product. Owners whose businesses had used AI reported applying it to content, marketing, translation and customer communications. The survey does not specify which AI providers or tools respondents used for those tasks, so its adoption figures should not be read as usage figures for Meta products.
Meta said the research follows its launch earlier in 2026 of the Small Business Growth Academy across Asia-Pacific. The company describes the programme as practical training in AI-enabled advertising, Reels, WhatsApp for Business and cross-border commerce, delivered with government, chamber-of-commerce and local partners. Meta also cited an Indonesian fashion-business owner’s reported results from a campaign using its tools; those figures are a company-published example, not a result from the survey as a whole.
Meta said Indonesian brand Zayya used a daily advertising budget of about Rp30,000, or roughly US$1.68, and generated 50 enquiries. Its founder, Husnul Khotimah, reported that customer response times fell from 30–60 minutes to under two minutes and that the campaign returned more than eight times its advertising spend. These outcomes are attributed to the company and founder; the report does not provide an independent evaluation of the campaign.
“I used to think AI was mainly for writing captions and creating content, but I’ve learned that it can also help me understand new markets and reach the right customers.”
— Husnul Khotimah, founder of Indonesian fashion brand Zayya, as quoted by Meta
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Limits of the Survey Findings
The results are based on owners’ online survey responses, not audited company records or an experiment measuring AI’s effects. Meta said the findings are not nationally representative of the small-business population in each market. It applied quotas by business size—firms with 1–9, 10–19 and 20–49 employees—to seek a broad spread of respondents.
Meta also cautioned that results differed among markets and that those differences may partly reflect how respondents interpreted questions, translation and local response norms. The release does not give market-by-market figures in the supplied material, explain how respondents defined AI, or provide a comparison group of businesses that did not use it. The survey therefore cannot establish that AI alone produced the reported productivity or revenue effects.
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Training and Guidance Remain the Test
Meta said it will continue working with governments, industry partners and entrepreneurs across Asia-Pacific, and pointed to its Growth Academy as one way it is offering training. The company also listed its own AI-enabled advertising and customer-service tools. The survey release does not set out a new policy commitment, a timetable for further support, or a follow-up study.
The next practical test will be whether small businesses can access the affordable training and clearer cost, privacy and security information respondents said they need—and whether support helps them use AI effectively. Further evidence would be needed to assess whether reported productivity and sales benefits persist across businesses and markets.
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Key Questions
What did the survey find about AI and productivity?
Seventy-six percent of surveyed small-business owners said AI had a positive impact on productivity over the past 12 months. This is a reported perception, not an independently measured productivity change.
Who took part in the study?
YouGov conducted an online survey of 3,983 small-business owners across Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, Taiwan, India, Thailand, Japan and Hong Kong. Meta commissioned the research.
What support did owners say they need?
Eighty-six percent said small businesses need more guidance to gain AI’s full benefits. Respondents highlighted training, clearer information about costs and return on investment, and guidance on data privacy and security. Cost was the leading barrier to training, cited by 51%.
Does the survey prove AI increased sales or productivity?
No. The findings report what owners said about AI’s effects; they do not establish causation or independently verify business outcomes. Meta also said the results are not nationally representative in each surveyed market.
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