{"slug": "many-businesses-using-ai-to-save-time-but-do-they-know-what-they-re-doing", "title": "Many businesses using AI to save time, but do they know what they're doing?", "summary": "Nearly two-thirds of small and medium businesses in New Zealand are already using AI, with 64 percent reporting time savings averaging about one working day, according to research by Xero, a global small business platform. However, HP and Xero warn that many firms are still learning by trial and error and need simple guardrails around security, governance, and appropriate use to build trust and tackle the country's productivity problem.", "body_md": "# Many businesses using AI to save time, but do they know what they're doing?\n\nSmall businesses are experimenting with artificial intelligence (AI), but many are still learning by trial and error, according to technology firms HP and Xero.\n\nThe companies said [AI could help tackle New Zealand's long-running productivity problem](https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/564982/should-we-fear-ai-it-might-be-the-answer-to-productivity-concerns), but only if firms build trust in the technology and put basic rules around how it is used.\n\nXero's research found almost two-thirds of small and medium businesses were already using AI, while 64 percent of those using it said it had saved them time, with an average reported saving of about one working day.\n\nBut the research also found businesses were still worried about privacy, security, whether AI answers were accurate, and finding the time to set up tools properly.\n\nJames Bergin, Xero's executive general manager of technology research and advocacy, said small firms using AI were reporting productivity gains, even if those benefits were not yet showing clearly across the wider economy.\n\nBergin said the research showed strong interest in AI, but many firms were still trying it out for themselves and needed practical guidance.\n\nHP New Zealand managing director Shannon Harris said businesses did not necessarily need lengthy policy documents before getting benefits from AI, but they did need simple rules covering security, governance and appropriate use.\n\n\"I'm talking guardrails and frameworks over 50-page policy documentation,\" she said.\n\nShe said clear rules should help businesses use AI rather than slow them down, particularly where they were handling sensitive customer or financial information.\n\nBergin said businesses also needed to understand the limits of different AI tools, particularly where accuracy mattered, because some tools gave likely answers rather than verified facts.\n\nXero called this \"accountable intelligence\", Bergin said, using AI to handle routine tasks and point to useful information, while business owners or advisers remained responsible for the final decision.\n\nThey said getting the rules and training right mattered because productivity remained a key economic challenge for New Zealand, underpinning living standards, competitiveness and the ability of businesses to grow.\n\nBergin said the next challenge was not simply accessing more AI capability, but turning what was already available into practical use.\n\nHarris said turning AI into genuinely useful tools required a clear understanding of the business problem and human judgement about the results.\n\nConfidence would be critical if small firms were to move from experimenting with AI to using it in ways that supported growth, Harris said.\n\n\"What is going to be possible if we can remove all of this really low-value work that we're doing?\" she said. \"How could we use the same number of people to grow faster, reach customers sooner or build exports?\"\n\nHarris said anything that helped businesses build confidence, simplify adoption and reduce low-value administrative work could be a \"game changer\" for New Zealand.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/many-businesses-using-ai-to-save-time-but-do-they-know-what-they-re-doing", "canonical_source": "https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/874814/many-businesses-using-ai-to-save-time-but-do-they-know-what-they-re-doing", "published_at": "2026-08-03 19:07:58+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-08-03 19:22:38.936982+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "ai-products", "ai-policy"], "entities": ["Xero", "HP", "James Bergin", "Shannon Harris"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/many-businesses-using-ai-to-save-time-but-do-they-know-what-they-re-doing", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/many-businesses-using-ai-to-save-time-but-do-they-know-what-they-re-doing.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/many-businesses-using-ai-to-save-time-but-do-they-know-what-they-re-doing.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/many-businesses-using-ai-to-save-time-but-do-they-know-what-they-re-doing.jsonld"}}