(01)Horizon Research & Consulting · Publication No. 001
The PracticalAI Playbookfor Small Businesses
2026 Edition
A decision-maker's guide to separating real AI opportunity from hype — and acting on it without wasting money or time.
(02)Why it exists
The case for it.
For most small and mid-sized businesses, the hard part of AI is no longer awareness — it's judgment. The genuine opportunities are buried under hype, vendor noise, and expensive distraction, and telling them apart without a technical background has become a job of its own.
This Playbook is the answer to that: a clear, evidence-based guide a decision-maker can read in an afternoon and keep using for years. It replaces the vague pressure to “do something about AI” with a disciplined, low-risk method for choosing what's actually worth doing — and proving it works before you scale.
(03)What's inside
Inside the report.
Practical use cases, function by function
How to evaluate an opportunity without a technical background
Cost, risk, and realistic timelines
The questions to ask any vendor
The common and costly mistakes to avoid
(04)Who it's for
Who it's for.
Written for the people who carry the decision: owners and executives of small and mid-sized businesses weighing where AI fits, and the agencies and advisors guiding them. It assumes no technical background and introduces no jargon without explaining it in plain business terms.
For the reader in a hurry, the report's guidance reduces to one instruction: name the single constraint costing your business the most this month, pilot one AI-assisted solution against it for 30 days with a written baseline, and decide whether to expand based on the numbers rather than the feeling. That is a small, low-risk commitment — and it is precisely the size of commitment the evidence says works.
(05)Flagship Research Report
Read it this afternoon.
The full Playbook is free to download — no email, no gate. Take it with you and decide, on the evidence, where AI is worth your business's time.
Where does your business stand?
The Playbook makes the case; the AI Readiness Assessment makes it personal. Answer a few questions and get an honest read on where you’re ready and where you’re exposed — in about three minutes.
Weighing a specific decision?
If you’re facing a concrete AI question and want the same structured, evidence-based thinking applied to it directly, we’d be glad to talk it through.