What Is the Triangle Small Business AI Survey?
The Triangle Small Business AI Survey is a short set of questions about how local owners spend their week and what they make of AI. It hasn’t opened yet, so there are no results. When there are, they’ll live on this page.
I’m an AI consultant in Durham, and most of what I read about small business AI is national. I’d rather hear from the people down the street. You can read more about my AI consulting work in Durham.
Who Is It For?
The survey is for owners of small businesses in Durham, Raleigh, Chapel Hill and the towns around them. If you run the place and you feel every hour of the week, it’s for you.
You don’t need to use AI to take it. Owners who’ve never tried it are exactly who I want to hear from.
What Does It Ask?
The questions cover five things:
- Where your week goes
- Which chores you’d hand off if you could
- What you’ve already tried with AI, if anything
- What worries you about it
- What you’d pay for help
That last one matters to me. I’d rather know what help is worth to a Triangle owner than guess.
How Long Does It Take?
About five minutes. That’s one cup of coffee at the kitchen table before the phone starts ringing.
What Happens to Your Answers?
Answers are reported only in aggregate. No business gets named without permission.
When the survey closes, I’ll publish the results here. Everyone who takes part gets them too, so you can see how your week compares with your neighbors’.
What the National Numbers Say
These are national and statewide figures for context. They aren’t results from this survey, and they don’t tell us anything about the Triangle yet.
The U.S. Census Bureau’s Business Trends and Outlook Survey asks businesses whether they use AI in any business function. As of May 3, 2026, the national rate was 19.8%, and less than 20% of firms with four or fewer employees said they used AI. Between December 2025 and May 2026, use grew at firms with 20 or more employees but didn’t change significantly at firms with fewer than 20.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s 2025 report on small business technology tells a different story. In that survey, 58% of small businesses said they use generative AI. For North Carolina, the Chamber reports 49% of small businesses using an AI platform.
Those numbers are far apart, and part of the reason is that the two surveys ask different people different questions. That’s one more reason I want a local read, in owners’ own words.
If you’re curious where AI would help in your own week, How to Find the Chore AI Should Take First is a good place to think it through while you wait.
Where to Start
The survey opens soon. Email me at [email protected] or use the contact page to ask for the survey link, and I’ll send it to you as soon as it’s live.