Welcome to the Center for AI and SME Excellence (CASE)
The Centre for AI and SME and Excellence (CASE) envisions a future where small and medium businesses harness the power of AI to drive innovation and growth by accessing relevant tools and solutions, regardless of their size or tech expertise, thereby staying competitive alongside their larger counterparts in an AI-driven economy. We research SME needs and offer solutions.
CASE is funded through a Congressional Development Fund grant sponsored from Virginia Senators Kanie and Warner through the Small Business Administration.
The CASE
Small businesses are the backbone of the economy, employing nearly half of the American workforce and contributing 43.5% to the nation’s GDP. 795,624 small businesses.
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Virginia has 818,450 small businesses forming about 99.5 percent of all Virginia businesses and employing 45.4 % of its total workforce (SBA, 2023). Yet they lag behind their larger counterparts in their adoption of AI technologies due to lack of economies of scale and in-house tech talent. Small businesses often face challenges in adopting AI due to their limited understanding of the full potential of AI and related technical expertise. They are often not AI-ready due to lack of data culture and data infrastructure within their organizations. This coupled with limited financial resources and risk of sunk costs before AI yields any results also delays their foray into the AI landscape. However, AI offers significant opportunities, including automation of industry specific tasks ranging from mundane to highly technical and sophisticated functions.
George Mason University’s Center for AI and SME Excellence (CASE) is the nation’s first of its kind Center aimed at bolstering the economic competitiveness of small businesses in Virginia by harnessing the power of Artificial Intelligence. The Center, located in Arlington, is uniquely positioned to leverage Virginia’s tech infrastructure and rich institutional architecture to expand the AI tech talent pipeline and allow SMEs to capitalize on AI innovation, and grow Virginia’s AI economy.
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Bridging this gap requires understanding specific business needs of SMEs which tend to be different from large businesses and tailoring solutions to enable these business to thrive. The pioneering initiative aims to place Virginia at the forefront of artificial intelligence adoption among SMEs, which often fly under the radar in discussions dominated by federal and big-tech AI advancements.
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The center will draw expertise from several George Mason colleges, including the Schar School of Policy and Government, the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, and the College of Engineering and Computing.​​​​​
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Key offerings of the Center
Need Assessment
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The center is currently working on a needs assessment to identify need gaps, opportunities and key barriers small businesses face in adoption of AI in Virginia. This will enable the development of sector specific targeted interventions for small businesses, building targeted solutions and support the Government of Virginia in making informed policy choices.
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​Resource Database
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AI is a technological juggernaut, rapidly disrupting business models and redefining business landscapes, thus making it crucial for small businesses to stay agile and informed. The Center has adopted a dynamic approach to meet this head on by creating an equally agile resource center that brings together usable tools and best practices carefully whetted by its resource team consisting of technical, economic and social science experts. As AI technologies continue to evolve, the database will be regularly updated to reflect emerging trends.​
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Products and solutions
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The Centre is creating a dedicated SME and AI resource lab to create products and solutions to enhance adoption and build their competitiveness.
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New resources will be added soon. Stay tuned!​
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Sources: Nonemployer Statistics, 2019 (Census); Statistics of US Businesses, 2019 (Census)

Figure 1: Virginia Count of SMEs by sector and employees
Sources: Nonemployer Statistics, 2019 (Census); Statistics of US Businesses, 2019 (Census)