AI helps small teams compete with corporations — The National
In the UAE, The National writes in a commentary that artificial intelligence is changing the traditional view of the advantages of big business. According to the publication, small teams are increasingly able to create and promote global products without their own large-scale infrastructure and numerous departments.
For two centuries, the economics of business rewarded scale: large factories, distribution networks, numerous staff and substantial balance sheets gave companies purchasing power, access to capital and the ability to spread costs across millions of customers. Now AI, global digital connectivity and robotics are accelerating the reduction in the cost of competing with established companies, the author believes.
Examples of small teams
The publication mentions Instagram, which had 13 employees in 2012 when Facebook agreed to acquire the service for $1 billion. That same year, Kodak declared bankruptcy, with more than 150,000 employees. In 2014, Facebook agreed to buy WhatsApp for $19 billion: the messenger employed 55 people at the time, while its number of monthly users exceeded 450 million.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
Among more recent examples, The National names Sweden's Lovable, which makes it possible to create software using natural language. According to data cited by the publication, the company reached $100 million in annual recurring revenue eight months after launch, with 45 full-time employees. Gamma, which uses AI to create presentations and websites, reached $100 million in recurring revenue while being profitable, with around 50 employees. Cursor, which develops AI tools for programming, exceeded $100 million in recurring revenue at the beginning of last year, adhering to a small-team model with a high concentration of talent.
New conditions of competition
The publication cautions that the figures of private companies should be treated carefully. At the same time, in its view, AI is changing not only productivity but also the minimum efficient size of a company. Small teams can use rented computing power, global platforms and AI for writing code, marketing, customer analysis, translation, responding to inquiries and administrative tasks.
Large corporations retain advantages in the form of capital, brands, data, customer bases and business connections, but at the same time must maintain legacy systems, management layers and complex internal processes. Against this backdrop, the amount of value created per employee may become an increasingly important indicator. The National also notes that smaller economies, including the UAE, may gain an opportunity to develop global companies thanks to talent, capital, speed and conditions for small teams to work.
