SMB Group

In a new blog post, Laurie McCabe examines how Salesforce’s SMB strategy has evolved from Starter Suite to Starter Pro—and why this shift is more evolutionary than revolutionary. 🚀

The analysis explores Salesforce’s multi-year effort to simplify CRM adoption for SMBs, expand functionality without overwhelming users, and increasingly embed AI into core workflows. Rather than viewing Starter Pro as a one-off launch, the post positions it as a strategic next step in building a clearer on-ramp from entry-level CRM to more advanced capabilities.

Read the full analysis here:
👉 https://lauriemccabe.com/2025/12/19/salesforces-evolving-smb-strategy-from-starter-suite-to-pro-suite-and-beyond/

Laurie McCabe of SMB Group outlines a key shift for small businesses in her interview with BizTech Magazine: AI adoption is rising rapidly, with over half of SMBs implementing it and many seeing gains in productivity, collaboration and customer service.
But the challenge remains the same: securing the right skills, time and clarity of use-case to turn AI into a competitive advantage. For small-business leaders, the opportunity lies in using AI to free employees from repetitious work and reskill them for higher-value contributions.
Read more here: https://biztechmagazine.com/article/2025/11/how-ai-changing-way-small-business-employees-do-their-jobs?amp

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How Is AI Changing the Way Small-Business Employees Do Their Jobs? AI tools are becoming essential assistants for millions of small-business workers, says SMB Group’s Laurie McCabe

Laurie McCabe from SMB Group attended Dreamforce 2025 and shares insights into Salesforce’s push toward the “agentic enterprise.” With Agentforce 360 and Slack as the front door to AI agents, Salesforce is positioning itself as a full orchestration platform rather than just a CRM.

For SMBs, new usage-based pricing and free core AI services could make experimentation easier. But platform complexity and strong competition pose challenges. Laurie’s conclusion: there’s real potential here, but ex*****on — especially for smaller businesses — will be key.


Read her full take:

Dreamforce 2025: Salesforce’s Agentic AI Vision I recently attended Dreamforce 2025, where Salesforce showcased its ambitious AI vision for the “agentic enterprise.” This strategy is built on technology embedded in its new Agentforce 360 platfor…

How are SMBs really using AI today—and what’s coming next? 🤔

Laurie McCabe’s new blog, How SMBs Are Adopting AI—And What Comes Next, provides highlights from 's new ebook How SMBs Are Adopting AI—And What Comes Next, links to SMB Group’s free ebook for deeper insights and survey results.

A quick, practical read for SMB leaders, partners, and tech vendors.

👉 Read it here: https://lauriemccabe.com/2025/08/18/how-smbs-are-adopting-ai-and-what-comes-next/

How SMBs Are Adopting AI—And What Comes Next AI is transforming small and medium businesses (SMBs) by integrating into various functions like sales, finance, and HR. A survey of 650 SMB decision-makers shows that 53% are currently using AI, w…

🚀 Zoom Levels Up: From Meetings to Measurable Outcomes 🚀

At Zoom Perspectives 2025, the company showed it’s no longer just a video meetings brand—it’s becoming a full-spectrum productivity platform.

With its “Conversation to Completion” vision, Zoom is embedding AI to transform every meeting into action—creating tasks, updating CRM records, and streamlining workflows across industries.

Laurie McCabe of SMB Group breaks down:
✅ Why this shift matters
✅ How AI is driving the strategy
✅ What it means for SMBs, enterprises, and partners

📖 Read the full analysis: Zoom Perspectives 2025: From Conversations to Completions:

Zoom Perspectives 2025: From Conversations to Completions Zoom’s July 2025 Perspectives event showcased its evolution from a video conferencing tool to a comprehensive productivity platform powered by AI. Focused on midmarket and vertical solutions,…

🚀 AI and SMBs: A New Era of Opportunity
Small and medium businesses are entering a new chapter—where AI isn’t just for tech giants, but a powerful tool to drive real business results.

📘 Our latest free SMB Group eBook, AI and SMBs: A New Era of Opportunity, explores how SMBs are adopting and benefiting from AI—and what’s holding some back. Sponsored by Workday, this report is packed with practical insights from our most recent survey of SMB leaders.

🔍 In the eBook, you’ll learn:
✅ What’s driving SMB interest in AI—and where it’s gaining traction
✅ How usage is evolving beyond automation to predictive intelligence
✅ Top challenges and trust issues slowing adoption
✅ What it all means for SMBs, tech vendors, and partners

👉 Dive into the data and download your free copy here:
📖 https://lauriemccabe.com/2025/07/31/ai-and-smbs-a-new-era-of-opportunity-download-smb-groups-free-ebook-today/

AI and SMBs: A New Era of Opportunity — Download SMB Group’s Free eBook Today Small and medium businesses (SMBs) are at a pivotal moment. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no longer reserved for tech giants or futuristic scenarios—it’s here, and it’s reshaping how SMBs operate…

🚀 AI is moving fast—but that doesn't mean every business should race ahead without a plan.

I recently spoke with Prashanth “PVK” Krishnaswami, Head of Marketing for Zoho CRM, about how Zoho is building a thoughtful, privacy-first, and agentic approach to AI. From launching its own LLM to developing customizable AI agents and an agent marketplace, Zoho is taking a practical path that’s rooted in customer value, not just hype.

We also dug into Zoho’s philosophy on sustainability, data privacy, and what it means to create AI that works for real business needs—not just flashy demos.

Check out the blog for highlights from our conversation and key takeaways on Zoho’s AI roadmap:
🔗 https://lauriemccabe.com/2025/07/28/building-ai-that-works-for-business-zohos-pvk-talks-strategy-and-vision

Building AI That Works for Business: Zoho’s PVK Talks Strategy and Vision In this post, we share highlights from a recent conversation with Prashanth “PVK” (PVK) Krishnaswami, Head of Marketing for Zoho CRM, about Zoho’s latest AI announcements. From building its own lar…

Zoho continues to push the boundaries of AI integration while staying true to its values of privacy, affordability, and simplicity. At its May 2025 AI Forum, the company unveiled new innovations—from CRM for Everyone and the Ulaa secure browser to the launch of Zoho Payments.

Laurie McCabe recaps the key takeaways here:
👉 https://lauriemccabe.com/2025/05/19/zohos-may-2025-ai-forum-announcements-ai-driven-privacy-centric-and-fintech-ready

On May 22, is hosting a live webinar to unpack findings from its new 2025 State of Financial Automation report—based on responses from 750 SMB finance leaders.

Laurie McCabe of SMB Group will join the conversation to explore how small and mid-sized businesses are tackling inflation, talent gaps, and market volatility by turning to automation and AI.

Attendees will learn:

💡 Where SMBs are focusing their financial efforts in 2025
💡 How automation is helping drive smarter decisions
💡 What tech vendors and finance leaders can do to stay ahead

📅 May 22 | 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET
🔗 Register here

At its 2025 Analyst Innovation Summit, Workday outlined a bold new direction—moving beyond generative AI toward a future powered by agentic AI.

In her latest blog, Laurie McCabe of shares key insights from the event, including:

🔹 Why Workday believes agentic AI—AI that can reason, plan, and act—is the next big shift
🔹 How the company is embedding intelligent agents into its HCM and Financials platforms
🔹 The strategic priorities shared by new leaders Rob Enslin and Gerrit Kazmaier
🔹 Workday’s efforts to drive full-suite wins and expand globally

Laurie also offers her perspective on what this means for customers, partners, and the broader enterprise software market.

📘 Read the full post:
https://lauriemccabe.com/2025/05/14/top-takeaways-from-workdays-2025-analyst-innovation-summit/

Top Takeaways from Workday’s 2025 Analyst Innovation Summit At its 2025 Innovation Summit, Workday celebrated its 20th anniversary and unveiled new executives while detailing its shift toward agentic AI in HCM and Financials platforms. This strategy emphasi…

Great article on and . Thanks https://www.bill.com/lp/wb-2025-sofa-report

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📊 93% of SMBs see high value in financial automation.
💸 34% say it's speeding up AR.
🤖 85% are excited about AI.

Find out what’s driving the shift—and what’s next—in the new 2025 Financial Automation Report from + : https://lauriemccabe.com/2025/04/24/new-survey-report-reveals-how-smbs-are-transforming-finance-in-2025-and-whats-next/

New Survey Report Reveals How SMBs Are Transforming Finance in 2025—And What’s Next In today’s economic environment, financial agility isn’t a luxury—it’s a necessity. Small and medium businesses (SMBs) are navigating high inflation, recession worries, talent shortages, and cybers…