Brazilian SMEs Embrace AI and Digital Projects to Boost Customer Service and Growth
Brazilian small businesses are adopting AI technologies and new digital initiatives like Sebrae-SP's Fature+ project to improve customer service, management, and growth prospects.
- • 74% of Brazilian SMEs use AI to support, not replace, customer interactions, improving personalization and operational efficiency.
- • Experts advise understanding customer journeys before automating to avoid poor communication.
- • Excel remains a crucial tool for business management amid growing AI use.
- • Sebrae-SP Alto Tietê's Fature+ project aims to boost health and beauty SMEs' management, marketing, customer experience, and growth.
- • Fature+ focuses on digital marketing, customer loyalty, niche specialization, and building sustainable revenue growth.
Key details
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Brazil are increasingly leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance customer service and streamline operations, adopting a strategy that complements rather than replaces human interaction. According to Rodrigo Bidinoto, global sales director at ActiveCampaign, SMEs utilize AI and customer relationship management (CRM) tools to organize data such as purchase histories, preferences, and interactions, enabling personalized and timely customer engagement. Automation addresses repetitive tasks like responding to common inquiries, order confirmations, and payment reminders, freeing entrepreneurs to focus on strategic planning and client relationships. Microsoft data indicates that 74% of Brazilian SMEs already use AI in some capacity, but experts caution that understanding the customer journey before automation is crucial to avoid generic communication and poor customer experience. Despite advances in AI adoption, traditional tools like Excel remain vital for managing business processes without excessive complexity, as highlighted by Alfredo Araújo from Hashtag Treinamentos. Gabriel Marostegam from Avanade adds that a cultural challenge exists where many SMEs perceive AI as complex or inaccessible, recommending a gradual implementation starting with customer service for measurable impact. Complementing this digital evolution, Sebrae-SP Alto Tietê has launched the Fature+ project, targeting health, beauty, and wellness businesses—sectors comprising over 10,700 small enterprises in the region. This free initiative focuses on improving management, finances, marketing, sales, customer experience, and growth strategies to increase revenue and accelerate digital transformation. Kurth Tonn, regional manager for Beauty, Health, and Wellness at Sebrae-SP Alto Tietê, emphasized that Fature+ "directly impacts revenue and results, with digitalization strengthening sales and relationship channels, creating a sustainable growth foundation." The program encourages local digital marketing strategies, content production, customer loyalty enhancement, niche specialization, and partnerships to differentiate and grow these small businesses. Together, AI adoption and support initiatives like Fature+ are helping Brazilian SMEs improve efficiency, deepen customer engagement, and pursue sustainable growth in an increasingly digital market landscape.
This article was translated and synthesized from Brazilian sources, providing English-speaking readers with local perspectives.
