Redefining hard work in the AI era

This blog is the first in a three-part series grounded in research by Current Forward, Upwork, and Zoom on how small businesses and solopreneurs are using AI to work smarter and sustain growth.

Drawing from the Zoom SMB AI Research Report, this series explores how small business owners are actually using AI and how it’s reshaping the way they think about effort, progress, and scale.

Hard work has never been the problem for small business owners. Most founders are willing to put in the hours. What’s harder to come by is time, energy, and the mental space to use both effectively.

Inbox overload, rising customer expectations, nonstop content demands, and a constant cultural drumbeat telling founders to “10x” everything with AI is the reality many are navigating today. And while advice about automation and efficiency is everywhere, much of it still feels written for large teams with layers of support, not lean operations or solopreneurs who are juggling it all themselves.

This series takes a different approach. Instead of chasing hype or promising shortcuts, it shows how small businesses are actually using AI to reduce friction, reclaim time, and focus effort where it truly matters.

In this first installment, we start with a simple but important question: What does hard work really mean in the AI era?

For many small business operators, the workday starts already behind schedule. Emails pile up overnight. Customers expect faster responses. Proposals, invoices, follow-ups, content, and internal planning all compete for attention before you even pour your morning coffee. At the same time, AI headlines suggest you should be moving faster than ever or risk falling behind.

This pressure isn’t just operational. It’s emotional, too. There’s a growing sense among founders that if they’re not constantly optimizing, automating, and experimenting, they’re somehow failing. But it's not true. 

We know that for most small teams, the issue isn’t effort. It’s that too much effort is being spent in the wrong places.

Much of the AI conversation assumes scale by default, with multiple departments, dedicated specialists, and time to test and iterate.

Small businesses don’t operate that way.

Most founders aren’t looking for more tools. They’re looking for clarity. When AI is introduced without context, it can actually raise expectations rather than relieve pressure. Suddenly, you’re not just responsible for doing the work. You’re also responsible for figuring out how to optimize every part of it.

That disconnect helps explain why so much AI advice feels overwhelming. It often prioritizes capability over purpose and speed over judgment. What’s missing is a lens that reflects the reality of how small businesses actually run.

For a long time, hard work meant doing everything yourself. Long hours were worn as proof of commitment. That definition doesn’t hold up anymore. 

In today’s AI era, hard work looks different. It’s about choosing where your effort matters most. It’s knowing when your judgment, creativity, and experience truly add value, and when they don’t.

One solopreneur we spoke with described this tension clearly:

AI helps offload repetitive work like this, freeing attention for higher-value thinking. The payoff isn’t just efficiency. It’s momentum, focus, and the ability to spend more time on the parts of the business that actually drive growth and satisfaction.

This is the shift from hustle to leverage.

When you strip away the hype, AI adoption among small businesses is broad, practical, and grounded in everyday needs.

• 91% say AI has reduced the time they spend on administrative work
• 73% are using AI across core operations
• Adoption spans marketing, design, staffing, customer engagement, and security

What stands out isn’t how advanced these uses are. It’s how intentional they are. AI shows up where it can help remove friction without adding complexity.

Across conversations with founders, one theme comes up again and again: AI creates headspace.

A small business owner in Texas described it this way:

That perspective captures something important. AI isn’t just about speed. It’s about space to think, explore ideas, and make better decisions instead of constantly reacting. When time-draining tasks fade into the background, creativity and entrepreneurial instinct have room to lead again.

This isn’t about doing more with AI. It’s about doing more of the work that really matters. 

Here are three simple workflow shifts founders are using to reduce busywork and keep momentum moving forward:

1. Get a running start

Pick a recurring task: emails, proposals, or meeting notes, and let AI create the first draft. You stay in control, but you never have to start from scratch. It’s a small change that can save hours over the course of a week.

2. Think before you act

Before diving into a new idea, use AI to pressure-test it. What’s unclear? Is anything missing? Where might it break down? A few minutes of reflection up front can prevent wasted time and effort later.

3. Streamline a recurring time sink

Turn a repetitive task into a lightweight template or playbook using past examples. One simple system can eliminate dozens of micro-decisions and bring more consistency to your week.

These are easy AI experiments you can try using tools like Zoom AI Companion. See what fits the way you work and adjust from there.

If AI creates more capacity, the question becomes, how do you keep that space from just being filled again with more busywork?

In Part 2 of this series, Scaling without burnout, we’ll explore how small business owners and solopreneurs are expanding output and impact without adding headcount or letting every task bounce back to themselves.

To dive deeper, read the full Zoom + Upwork study and see how SMBs are rethinking work, growth, and momentum in the AI era, and explore how you might apply those insights to your own business.