Small Firms, Smart Future: AI Empowerment Through the BRAIGHTS Adoption Framework

Abstract

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transitioning from an urban, enterprise-centric technology to an accessible enabler for small, rural, and micro businesses. Affordable internet connectivity, mobile penetration, low-cost cloud platforms, and user-friendly AI tools have significantly lowered the technological barrier for small enterprises worldwide. In emerging economies such as India—home to approximately 63 million MSMEs contributing nearly 30% of national GDP—structured AI adoption can unlock new productivity levels and enhance economic resilience. Despite the availability of AI tools, small enterprises lack a clear roadmap for adoption. Existing digital transformation models are often complex, resource-intensive, or designed for large organizations. This paper introduces BRAIGHTS, an eight-stage framework specifically created for micro and rural enterprises to help them adopt AI in a simple, sequential, low-risk manner. One real-world styled case study (pharmacy) illustrates the practical application of the BRAIGHTS framework. SMEs continue to face barriers in digital transformation, including cost, and knowledge gaps (OECD, 2021)^[5]. The findings demonstrate that structured AI adoption improves efficiency, reduces manual workload, enhances customer engagement, and increases revenue. The study concludes that frameworks like BRAIGHTS can bridge the urban-rural technology divide and enable inclusive, sustainable digital growth. BRAIGHTS is an AI-based model, comparable to systems such as ChatGPT and Gemini, designed to generate actionable recommendations and guidance for small and micro businesses in rural settings. The mission of BRAIGHTS framework is to democratize AI for small businesses, and its guiding motto is: ‘Of the AI, By the AI, and For the AI’.