Artificial Intelligence (AI) has ceased to be a distant concept and is already part of the daily routine of millions of people, including when buying products and hiring services. Keeping an eye on this new scenario, service platforms that connect customers to specialized service providers are investing in AI to enhance the user and professional experience.

According to the Retail Report 2025 by the global financial technology platform Adyen, 35% of consumers already use AI tools to make purchases, a jump of 45% compared to the previous year. The trend is clear: consumers desire agility, personalization, and convenience.

Challenges and opportunities for small businesses

Professionals who decide to venture into entrepreneurship and start their own businesses instead of seeking formal employment face various difficulties. Initial investment and customer acquisition are two of the most common challenges, despite the existence of service platforms and marketplaces that aid in this process today.

With the growth of e-commerce after the pandemic, the digitalization of businesses has become virtually mandatory for most entrepreneurs. Gaining visibility and an online presence has become a new challenge and a priority for many freelancers, small, and medium-sized enterprises.

Now, in addition to digitalizing communication and sales channels, there arises the need to adapt to other new technologies, such as AI.

The proper use of the currently available Artificial Intelligence tools can help entrepreneurs and business owners improve the internal efficiency of their businesses, making better use of time and minimizing potential errors.

Generally, the integration of AI solutions into business processes seems to be related to a better customer experience and greater loyalty, especially when there is coherence between the physical and digital channels.

Currently, there are accessible and available AI tools for anyone, which can be very useful in various tasks: product recommendations, appointment scheduling, inventory management… There are even solutions to automate customer service and streamline tasks related to business accounting.

Furthermore, many tools aimed at professional use have already understood the need to adapt to the new times to offer the best solutions to entrepreneurs who want to conquer their space in the market. This is the case of Cronoshare, a specialized services platform that connects clients to specialized professionals.

The platform allows professionals to register for free to receive requests from clients interested in their services. Then, each professional can choose which requests to fulfill: to unlock the data of the person who requested the service, it is necessary to use the platform’s virtual currency, the cronos, and it is up to the professional to close the deal with the client.

Professionals constantly monitor the investment they are making, and moreover, the platform offers a guarantee that allows them to recover part of the cronos invested in contacts that do not result in the service being provided. Now, Cronoshare is looking for new ways to continue improving the product with the help of AI.

Carlos Alcarria, co-founder and CMO of Cronoshare, explains: “For some time we have been working on an indicator, which is already in the testing phase, to help professionals better filter the received requests, offering the highest possible transparency in this aspect”..

This is the CS Index: an indicator that will allow to classify the requests on a scale from 1 to 10, according to the level of interest from clients. Lower scores will be assigned to clients who may need more time to decide, while higher scores will indicate clients apparently more decided to hire the requested service.

To perform this filter, AI algorithms are being used, based on various criteria (chosen customer contact method, service urgency, request origin, etc.). The goal is for professionals to know in advance the probability of being hired, to make a decision based on this data.

Recent changes in the consumption habits of Spanish customers

Increasingly, consumers take advantage of tools like ChatGPT to get inspired, receive personalized purchase recommendations or compare prices before purchasing a product or service. In fact, the number of customers willing to buy products when they receive a personalized recommendation from AI is growing.

Returning to the data from the Adyen report, Generation Z (people between 16 and 27 years old) is the demographic group that most uses AI at the time of purchasing. Specifically, up to 66% of this group trust Artificial Intelligence for this purpose.

This trend is also followed by 47% of Millennials (between 28 and 43 years old) and has been increasingly attracting interest from previous generations. In the last 12 months, there has been a 64% increase in the use of AI by Baby Boomers, and 48% among Generation X.

In summary, the data points to a significant change in the consumption habits of most of the population, justifying the efforts of entrepreneurs and small businesses to adapt to this new reality.