By Sam Parsons, Founder of AI Business School

Most SMEs are hearing about AI every day, yet many teams still feel stuck at zero.

What this looks like – we don’t know what AI can do, or how to adopt it safely. Let’s call this Level 0. At this stage, AI feels risky. Yet, you are hearing about AI every day.

Newsworthy stories of breakthroughs and advancements. How your competitors are getting ahead with it. Even, where it can go horribly wrong. But staying at zero has a cost.

In Australia, many workers do not trust AI and have had little training, so teams avoid it or use it badly. Tried and failed to get a colleague using a simple chatbot? Not uncommon.

Do not aim for ​“AI transformation” yet. Aim for Level 1: one useful tool, one clear task, one small win.

AI literacy at this level means knowing what AI can do, what it cannot do, and how to use it safely.

• Pick a low-risk, repeat task such as drafting emails, summarising meetings, or rewriting marketing copy.
• Run a short trial. Measure time saved or quality gained.
• List five ​“boring but frequent” tasks your team repeats weekly.
• Choose one task and one AI tool to test for two weeks.
• Set basic rules: no client data in public tools, always review outputs, keep humans responsible.
• Share the result with the team and repeat with the next task.

Level 1 is about building confidence, not shooting the lights out.

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‘AI in 60’ content contributors

If you are a member of the SA Business Chamber working in the AI space, we’d be thrilled to feature your collaborative insights in an upcoming​‘AI in 60’ update. Reach out to the team at marcoms@​sabusinesschamber.​com.​au for a content brief and next steps.