In the end, AI is still about people

There's the romantic idea in business that the best innovations start in a garage: two clever people, a spark of genius, an origin story. But most garages these days are full of half-finished projects and good intentions.

When it comes to AI, that's precisely what happens when SMEs try to go it alone.

It's not that small teams can't innovate. They can, and often do. The issue is that AI has become a team sport.

Building something helpful now requires data, compliance, integration, and a working understanding of how to keep it all secure. It's too much for one business to master at once.

"AI has become a team sport — and no one wins by playing solo."

Why partnerships beat isolation

Large organisations have the luxury of departments. They can afford to throw money and acronyms at a problem until it behaves. SMEs have to pick their battles. That's why partnerships matter. Not the performative kind, where logos sit side by side on a slide deck, but real collaboration. People who bring different expertise and share the risk.

Research from Cambridge Judge Business School notes that smaller firms in AI partnerships often face power imbalances but also gain access to critical data and domain expertise they could not build on their own. It's proof that collaboration, handled well, levels the field.

I've seen small companies try to build in isolation because they don't want to lose control. It's understandable. There's pride in ownership, and a fear that once someone else joins the process, it stops being "theirs."

But the truth is, isolation is more dangerous than partnership. The wrong decision, made quickly and without perspective, can cost more than collaboration ever would.

What makes a good AI partner

Good partners don't take over. They translate. They connect what you want with what's possible. They make sure your ambitions survive contact with reality. And, perhaps most importantly, they help you move faster without cutting corners.

According to Forrester, the most effective AI partnerships combine domain expertise, trusted data pipelines, and shared governance models. Structures that keep innovation aligned with business outcomes rather than hype.

AI is moving too quickly for perfectionism. The window between idea and irrelevance is shrinking. The companies that keep up won't be the ones that do everything themselves. They'll be the ones that build together, learn together, and occasionally admit they can't do it all.

A recent Reuters analysis of Salesforce's deepened alliances with OpenAI and Anthropic shows why: even giants need external partners to integrate safely and scale faster.

If the most prominent players rely on partnerships to stay relevant, smaller ones should view them as a strategy.

Scaling belief

The garage myth was never really about independence anyway. It was about belief. And belief scales better when you've got someone else in the room who can see what you're trying to build, and help you make it real.

Partnerships turn isolation into iteration. They give shape to ambition.

And in the end, even in an age of machines, it's still about people, the ones willing to build together.