67% of AI-using small and mid-sized firms run tools they built, Pax8 survey finds

Users spend the time AI saves checking the output. In Pax8's survey, 55% of decision-makers put in at least three hours a week of their own time going over, editing or fact-checking work produced by AI, and 7% put in ten or more ^[13]. The US figure is 68% ^[14]. Teams tell themselves users get the hours back. And 69% of AI-using businesses did say AI had freed up at least some capacity ^[15].

The 67% is a pooled figure. In the US, 81% of AI-using businesses run something they built; in Germany it is 52%, a gap of 29 points ^[6][21]. The UK sits at 54%, 2 points from Germany ^[23]. Pax8 put the margin of error at about 2.9 points for the full sample and 6.9 for Germany and Sweden, and said results for smaller subgroups should be read as directional ^[20]. A 2-point difference is inside both margins; 29 points is outside them. The sample also spans companies with 5 to 499 employees ^[19], roughly a 100-fold range in headcount ^[24].

In the US, 36% of builders have formal review and another 41% have review that is consistent but undocumented ^[4]. That leaves 23% in neither group ^[22].

The shadow AI counts need the same care. Sweden reports the most, 55%, and also the highest formal review rate ^[7][4]. The UK has the lowest review rate and the second-lowest shadow AI figure, 24% ^[4][7]. In our view, "discovered" counts what firms went looking for as much as what exists, so a high number can mean a firm is checking.

Pax8 sells AI and cloud software to small businesses through IT service providers and works with more than 47,000 of them ^[16]. Its report says the findings point to a growing role for partners ^[17]. Nick Heddy, Pax8's president and chief commerce officer, said in a statement: "The opportunity is significant, but so are the new demands around governance, security, cost, and accountability." ^[18] The survey also found seven in ten businesses willing to pay a premium of at least 6% for more control over providers' storage and use of their data ^[12]. That figure is a stated preference.

For an IT provider deciding what to offer clients tomorrow, we'd sort every client build with two questions: does it connect to another business system, and does it act without a person reading the output first? Both kinds are common, since 52% of builders make connected workflows and 46% are building or testing agents ^[5]. A tool that answers no to both needs a line in an inventory. A connected tool that a person still reads needs a check on what data it touches. An agent working alone needs a spending cap. A tool that is connected and acts alone needs documented review before the next invoice. The tradeoff is that the other three quadrants get a lighter touch than the formal review that reaches at most 45% of builders in any market Pax8 reports ^[4].