(This column originally appeared in Forbes)
Here are five things in small business technology that happened this week and how they affect your business. Did you miss them?
This Week in Small Business Technology News
Small Business Technology News #1 — Anthropic’s Claude Code and Cowork can control your computer.
Anthropic’s AI coding assistant Claude Code and desktop assistant Claude Cowork can now run autonomously on computers. The AI can open apps, browse the web, edit files, and run tools. The AI runs on macOS via the Claude app and uses integrations like Google Workspace or Slack. Anthropic made the announcement on its Claude Blog adding that when the AI doesn’t have access to the tools it needs it will “point, click and navigate what’s on the screen to perform the task itself” — only with user permission. The feature is currently in an experimental phase and is available to Claude Pro and Max subscribers. This is a major step toward utilizing AI as a working partner that can complete tasks while the user is away. (Source: The Verge)
Why this is important for your small business:
Practical application: you tell Claude from a remote location to send a spreadsheet from your office computer to a customer. Or tell Claude to place an order on a supplier’s website every Friday after checking inventory levels in your accounting system. Or you tell Claude to send an email to a group of customers after an event you held. The list of tasks you give to it is endless. And it’s doing this stuff in lieu of your employees. No, you’re not going to terminate these employees. You’ll just find other, more productive things for them to do.
Small Business Technology News #2 — Mark Zuckerberg rolls out Meta Small Business.
Axios has reported that Mark Zuckerberg announced a new initiative called “Meta Small Business” focused on helping small businesses grow using AI. According to Zuckerberg, the “leading tools” that will support this effort have already been built. Entrepreneurship has been an ongoing focus for the company as it has offered various tools to help solo endeavors reach more customers. “Small businesses have always been the majority of our business model,” Zuckerberg said. Tens of millions of entrepreneurs use our platforms every day.” Meta Small Business aims to support and accelerate small business growth through AI-powered tools. (Source: Breaking the News)
Why this is important for your small business:
I’m noticing a number of tech companies doing the same thing over the past year: reaching out to small businesses to get them trained on AI. It serves many purposes. For the tech company it helps get business owners up to speed on technology that these companies offer as well as more familiar with the tools they can sell them. At the same time, it provides much needed training to a large market who are trying to get their arms around AI and how it can help their businesses. It’s a fair exchange, and I’d personally rather see a tech company like Meta provide these services than a government organization or a nonprofit with less experienced staff.
Small Business Technology News #3 — Alibaba targets small businesses with AI agent platform.
Alibaba is launching a new AI platform called Accio Work — a “plug-and-play AI taskforce” designed for small and medium-sized businesses. Part of a fast-growing popularity of AI Agents that autonomously perform everyday tasks — most recently with OpenClaw — Alibaba has created cross-functional AI taskforce that doesn’t require any complex set up. It will help businesses with tasks such as market research, inventory, and financial management. “Any action involving financial transactions, payment execution, or access to private files requires explicit, granular permission from the user,” Alibaba International Vice President Kuo Zhang said. Supplying SMBs with their own digital workforce will further normalize the idea of giving AI agents an intricate role in business operations. (Source: Cybernews)
Why this is important for your small business:
This is not too unlike Claude’s offering above except that it’s not fully taking over your computer. These are tasks that run by agents offered by Alibaba. Many other platforms have similar offerings and I’m not clear how this fits in with Alibaba’s overall brand and ecommerce process. Another challenge is that Alibaba is a Chinese-owned company which may create privacy or security concerns among small business owners.
Small Business Technology News #4 — Xero introduces online bill payments, delivering full-service financial platform for small businesses.
Accounting software company Xero has launched online bill payments in the U.S., letting small businesses pay bills directly inside its platform — making it the only accounting platform that allows users to pay credit card bills.” (Source: Business Wire)
Why this is important for your small business:
There are a number of stand alone accounts payable and bill paying automation applications that integrate with accounting software platforms. Xero is taking this one step further by integrating these features directly into its platform without having to deal with a separate product and company. My prediction is that most of Xero’s competitors will be doing the same.
Small Business Technology News #5 — Palo Alto Networks introduces the most secure workspace for small businesses.
Palo Alto Networks launched a new secure workspace for small businesses, built around its Prisma Browser for Business. (Source: Stock Titan)
Why this is important for your small business:
According to the company the aim is to make it easier for small businesses to organize all of the applications and AI tools they use to run their operations. According to PAN, small businesses on average use 36 different applications at any time — which necessitates a secure workspace. Prisma Browser provides secure access to apps, tools, and sensitive data — with built-in defense against phishing, ransomware and other attacks such as malicious website links. Instead of having to secure every app individually, it secures the entire work session through the browser. A 30-day free trial is being offered to try Prisma Browser.
Each week I round up five small business technology news stories and explain why they’re important for your business. If you have any interesting stories, please post to my X account @genemarks
