AI in Zürich SMEs 2026: what the surveys show.
More than half of Zürich's SMEs see AI positively, and missing know-how is the obstacle they name most often. That is the result of the cantonal bank's 2026 survey of 1,287 firms.
Who was asked
Zürcher Kantonalbank and the ZHAW wrote to Zürich SMEs in March 2026 and counted the answers that arrived by 9 April. 1,287 firms are in the results: 829 micro firms, 351 small and 107 medium-sized ones. The survey asks how firms see AI, what they want from it and what stops them. It does not ask how many already use it.
How Zürich SMEs see AI
More than half of the firms judge the use of AI positively. The larger the firm, the more positive: 81 percent of the larger SMEs, against 58 percent of the micro firms.
By industry, 74 percent of business service firms see AI positively, against 58 percent in construction and architecture.
What they want from it
48 percent of Zürich SMEs want to raise quality with AI. The survey names services and production, and sales and marketing, as the areas where firms use it most. Since 2024, management and research have become more important uses.
A national survey for the insurer AXA, from March 2026, gives the tasks in more detail. Among Swiss SMEs it found these uses:
- Translations: 47 percent
- Correspondence: 42 percent
- Advertising copy: 35 percent
- Improving work steps: 35 percent, up from 23
- Customer support: 17 percent
What holds them back
40 percent of the Zürich SMEs name missing know-how as the main obstacle. Among firms that struggle to hire, it is 51 percent.
Many want help: 73 percent of the medium-sized firms and 58 percent of the micro firms say they need support. Data protection and security worry 46 percent of the medium-sized firms and 38 percent of the smaller ones.
Micro firms now name it more often: 25 percent called digitalisation and AI a challenge in 2024, 46 percent in 2026.
What it means for jobs
According to the Zürich survey, firms that see AI positively more often expect to add jobs than to cut them. In the AXA survey, 47 percent of SMEs with AI experience expect to save time without any effect on headcount, and 12 percent expect to need fewer people.
What the canton is doing
The Zürich government approved 2.9 million francs in April 2025 to strengthen the canton as a place for AI, spent by the Office for Economy until 2029. One of the four packages supports networks of SMEs that bring AI into their work. The government says SMEs use AI somewhat less than the European average.
What I take from it
The survey shows Zürich firms want to use AI and lack the know-how: which of their tasks AI handles well, how to set it up and how to keep their data safe. That is my work.
The tasks from the AXA list are the right place to start: text that comes up every week and that someone checks before it goes out. Almost every firm solves data protection by sorting its data and choosing a suitable provider.
Questions
How many Zürich SMEs already use AI?
The Zürich survey does not say. It asks about attitudes, goals and obstacles. Nationally, the AXA survey of March 2026 found that 35 percent of SMEs use AI deliberately, 39 percent are trying it and 26 percent do not use it yet.
Which Zürich firms see AI most positively?
Larger SMEs and business service firms. 81 percent of the larger SMEs and 74 percent of business service firms judge AI positively, against 58 percent of micro firms and of construction and architecture firms.
Where should a Zürich SME start?
With one text task that comes up every week and that someone checks anyway, such as correspondence, offers or translations. Measure the time it takes before and after. Then decide on the next task.