SMEs risk falling behind in AI race
Small and medium-sized businesses across the Channel Islands are being urged to accelerate their adoption of artificial intelligence, with local entrepreneur and AMPD founder Peter Grange warning that companies which fail to act now risk being left behind by competitors that do.
Mr Grange believes AI could be particularly transformative for island SMEs because it can help address some of the challenges smaller businesses face, including high employment costs, limited access to specialist skills and the difficulty of achieving scale.
“AI is one of the biggest competitive advantages Channel Islands SMEs have ever been given,” said Mr Grange.
“For the first time, a business employing five, ten or twenty people can access levels of capability that previously required entire departments, specialist consultants or significant budgets.
“AI can already support marketing, HR, customer service, legal, finance, research and administration. This is no longer really a technology story. It is a productivity story.”
PwC’s 2026 Channel Islands CEO Survey found that 58% of local business leaders are concerned their organisations are not transforming quickly enough to keep pace with technology and AI.
Mr Grange believes the priority now is to move beyond occasional experimentation with tools such as ChatGPT and start embedding AI workflow processes into everyday business operations.
of Channel Islands business leaders are concerned their organisations are not transforming quickly enough to keep pace with technology and AI.
leading AI models will be available in one place through Super LLM, helping SMEs access powerful AI without juggling multiple platforms.
per person, per month – the planned starting price for Super LLM, making advanced AI tools accessible to SMEs and teams.
“The next stage is not simply asking AI to write you an email,” he said. “It is asking which parts of your business can become dramatically better because AI exists.
“Can your marketing team create campaigns in hours instead of days? Can your HR team produce policies faster? Can customer service respond more quickly? Can your finance team analyse information more effectively? Can repetitive administration disappear?
“That is when AI starts to become commercially interesting.”
Mr Grange is also developing Super LLM, a new all-in-one AI platform for SMEs and teams, which is due to launch locally and internationally in October 2026. The platform will include specialist Super Agents for Marketing, HR, Customer Service, Legal and Finance, with subscriptions planned to start from just £20 per person a month.
“What has frustrated me is that AI is becoming more powerful, but also more fragmented,” said Mr Grange.
“For a small business owner, there are now hundreds of tools, subscriptions and platforms to navigate. With Super LLM, we are giving access to 45 leading AI models in one chat, an integrated, gamified AI training academy, and bespoke AI specialist agents that make AI simple, affordable and genuinely effective for SMEs and teams.”
Mr Grange is also keen to stress that AI should be seen primarily as a tool to make people more capable, not simply to replace them.
“I don’t look at AI and think, how many people can we replace? I look at every person in a business and think, how much more powerful could we make them? If AI can save someone hours of repetitive work every day, that time can be redirected into thinking, creating, building relationships and growing the business.”
He believes the next 24 months will create an increasingly visible divide between businesses that embrace AI and those that do not.
“My message to every SME owner in Guernsey and Jersey is simple. You do not need to become an AI expert, but you do need to start. Pick one frustrating, repetitive or expensive process in your business and ask whether AI could make it better. Then pick another. And keep going. If you don’t do this, you will be left behind.”
If you are a SME, and need help adopting AI, contact AMPD to arrange a meeting.
