The AI adoption gap: Gender and generation among small business owners

Published on September 23, 2026

Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming embedded in everyday business operations, and small businesses have accelerated their adoption as AI tools grow more accessible and easier to deploy. However, this democratization has not uniformly reached all business owners. Longstanding differences in technology adoption across gender and age appear to be extending into the AI era, raising questions about who will capture the productivity gains of this new technology.

This report examines differences in AI adoption across business owner demographics using Chase Business Banking transaction data from 2019 through 2025. Our transaction-based approach tracks AI-related purchasing behavior across business owner gender and generational cohorts, providing a unique lens on AI adoption across these demographics. 

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