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AI spending growth among UK SMEs reshapes future jobs debate
Data shared by Capital on Tap shows the share of SMEs buying AI services rose from 3.2% in Q2 2024 to 12.8% in Q2 2026.
OilPrice frames the “AI boom” job displacement debate by contrasting high profile predictions with what is happening on the ground, citing evidence from Capital on Tap, a UK SME lender that tracks spending patterns across tens of billions of pounds in transactions each year.
According to the figures cited by OilPrice, AI adoption among small businesses accelerated sharply over the past couple of years, with the portion of SMEs that spent money on AI companies rising from 3.2% in Q2 2024 to 12.8% in Q2 2026.
The outlet also reports that average AI spend per small business increased from £93 to £288 over the same period, while the median spend in Q2 2026 was notably lower at £75.60 due to spending concentrated among a small group of large adopters.
OilPrice adds that AI tools still make up only 0.1% of the total value of all card spending tracked by Capital on Tap, underscoring that broader economic impact may be uneven even as adoption rises.