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Agentic AI may become the defining technology shaping the next generation of SME growth. Acting as an always-on digital workforce, autonomous agents could help businesses become visible through digital data, connected to markets and supply chains, enabled through real-time advisory and operational support, and funded through faster, more inclusive cash flow-based financing.
Yet the same technology could also widen competitive gaps, automate poor decisions at scale, expose firms to cyber risks, and leave smaller businesses dependent on systems they do not fully understand. For financial institutions, agentic AI promises lower operating costs and better risk management, but also threatens margins, intensifies competition, and creates new systemic risks.
Will agentic AI power inclusive SME growth, or deepen inequality and displace jobs?
