EU Small Businesses Leverage AI Agenty Capabilities 8.1 Times Since May

Key Findings

OpenAI's new Economic Research report reveals that small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in the EU have increased their use of agentic tools by 8.1 times since May.

Agentic Tools and Output Tokens

The report measures the shift using output tokens, which are the small chunks of text an AI model generates. According to OpenAI, agentic tools now produce more than half of the output tokens among sampled EU ChatGPT Enterprise customers.

SMB Adoption and Usage

The report found that the 8.1 times jump in weekly active agentic usage among SMBs showed up across every EU member state, not just a handful of tech-forward markets.

EU Economy and AI Adoption

OpenAI defines SMBs as firms with 200 or fewer users. These businesses account for 63% of private-sector employment in the EU and contribute over €5 trillion to the economy every year.

Challenges and Opportunities

OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar framed the moment as a 'new AI era' carrying both challenges and opportunities. She stressed that SMBs need to build the confidence and skills required to use these tools effectively.

Variation in Adoption

The averages hide a lot of variation. Agentic output token share ranges from 22% in Slovenia to 85% in Lithuania.

Frontier Firms and AI Adoption

OpenAI says EU 'frontier' firms, meaning technological leaders, generated more than four times the output tokens per active user compared with the average firm as of September 2026.