Latino small business worker

Unlock the Potential: Four Ways Hispanic and Latinx SMBs Can Get Started with AI 

It is Small Business Month, and Hispanic and Latinx small businesses (SMBs) play a substantial role in the U.S. economy. SMBs comprise 99% of all U.S. businesses, employing over 60 million workers[i] and Hispanic and Latinx entrepreneurs are starting businesses faster than the national average across almost all industries. According to the Joint Economic Committee Hispanic Entrepreneurship and Business Brief, nearly 1 in 4 new businesses are Hispanic and Latinx-owned, and the nearly 5 million Hispanic and Latinx-owned businesses contribute over $800 billion to the American economy annually.  

Often characterized by their resilience and passion, Hispanic and Latinx SMBs show no sign of slowing down. As these businesses look for new ways to grow and innovate, AI presents an opportunity to drive these businesses forward and help level out the playing field with larger companies.   

Here are four ways Hispanic and Latinx SMBs can get started with Microsoft AI: 

  • Make AI your copilot: Whether it’s responding to customer inquiries and managing appointments at the peluquería or taking and managing orders at the local panadería, make AI your copilot. AI helps automate tedious tasks like manual data entry, content generation and notetaking, unlocking the full creativity of the workforce. To explore more visit Worklab: AI-a whole new way of working. 
  • Streamlining Content: Hispanic and Latinx SMBs are growing exponentially, creating a pressing need to consolidate projects and teamwork efficiently. The user-friendly Loop app uses a flexible interface to help SMBs centralize their project needs—synching content across platforms like Teams, Outlook, Whiteboard, or Word and allowing teams to co-create seamlessly. Watch a short video to learn more. Enable Loop for your team, and visit Microsoft Loop to get started.    
  • Facilitating Bilingual Communication: Hispanic and Latinx SMBs serve customers who speak English and Spanish. With Microsoft Translator, employees can easily interact with customers, translating text and speech using the Translator API and Speech service, both in the Azure Cognitive Services family. 
  • Supporting Productivity: Always be on the go, juggling their businesses and families, Hispanic and Latinx SMB owners are busy! Play My Emails in Outlook for iOS uses natural voice, intelligent read-out, and language recognition, with Cortana which reads out your new emails and shares changes to your day—so you can catch up and respond to emails even when your hands are busy with other things. 

Hispanic and Latinx SMBs are poised to benefit greatly from this new generation of technology to help grow and scale their businesses.  To learn more about how AI can help businesses achieve more, visit the Official Microsoft Blog and Microsoft 365 Blog.

[i] Forbes Small Business Statistics of 2023