An Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics survey of 34,708 businesses, run in June 2025 and published on 15 July 2025, found that 28% use AI and 17% pay for AI services. A small business that wants to join does not need a big project. Start with four steps: one process that repeats, twenty real cases to test it on, a check of where your customers' data goes, and permissions that grow only after the test passes.
What the survey says and what it does not
The CBS release is a survey on AI adoption in businesses, run as the varying topic of the Business Tendency Survey. It shows that using AI is no longer only for tech companies. It does not say what your business should do, and it does not measure whether the use worked. That decision stays with you, and the steps below are a way to make it without taking a risk you cannot undo.
Step 1: pick one process that repeats
Do not start from “where can we use AI”. Start from something you do again and again: answering the same customer questions, preparing the same kind of quote, copying details between two systems. Count two weeks of real cases instead of guessing. The post on AI agent or auto-reply shows how to build that list from your own messages, and what to automate first helps you choose between several processes.
Step 2: twenty real cases to test on
Before anything goes live, take twenty real cases from the list, including a few hard ones, and decide in advance what a correct answer is. That measures the system on your work, not on the vendor's sample. A system that does not pass the twenty does not go live, which is a good rule even when you are the one building it.
Step 3: check where your customers' data goes
An AI or automation tool that sees your customers' names, phone numbers or messages is an outside party with access to your data. Two checks matter: what the vendor's data agreement says, and which data zone the tool stores your data in, including any sending of data abroad. The easiest rule: send the tool only what it needs, for example an order number and a first name instead of an ID number.
Step 4: start with an agent that reads and drafts, and widen later
The OWASP security project describes “excessive agency” as a risk: an agent that can do more than it needs to. Its advice is to limit the agent's tools and permissions to the minimum necessary, and to have a person approve high-impact actions before they happen. In practice: for the first weeks the agent reads and drafts a reply, and a person sends it. Only after the twenty cases pass, and after you have seen how it behaves on real messages, do you widen its permissions, one action at a time.
How do we help?
We build AI agents and automations, with a fixed price agreed before work starts. Bring the process you picked to a free intro call, and we will check together whether it suits an agent, a plain automation, or neither.
Frequently asked questions
How many businesses in Israel use AI? According to the Central Bureau of Statistics survey of June 2025, which covered 34,708 businesses, 28% use AI and 17% pay for AI services. The survey does not show whether the use worked.
Where does a small business start? With one process that repeats, tested on twenty real cases, with data you chose on purpose to send, and with an agent that drafts while a person sends.
Do I have to replace the tools I have? Not necessarily. An automation or an agent connects to the tools you already use, and the right question is which process to connect first.
Sources
- Business Tendency Survey, varying topic: Adoption of Artificial Intelligence in Businesses, June 2025, press release 216/2025, Central Bureau of Statistics, published 15 July 2025. The figures 34,708, 28% and 17% were read from the numerals in the PDF text and match the cross-checks by the Israel Democracy Institute and OECD.AI. The Hebrew definitions of “uses” and “pays” are in the full release.
- LLM06:2025 Excessive Agency, OWASP Gen AI Security Project, read on 2026-10-28.