Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have been urged to embrace Artificial Intelligence to boost efficiency, profitability and customer engagement at a FirstBank SMEConnect webinar.
The virtual event, with the theme ‘Business Growth: From Adoption to Integration and Scalable Impact’, was convened in Lagos on Tuesday by First Bank of Nigeria Ltd.
The webinar equipped business owners with practical strategies to integrate AI tools into operations, targeting improved productivity and scalable enterprise growth across sectors.
Guest speaker, Temitope Odude, said AI enhances SME performance through task automation, trend analysis, improved communication and faster decision-making.
“AI allows SMEs to work smarter, respond quickly to market changes and unlock new growth opportunities,” Odude said.
Odude, General Manager at Microsoft, noted that SMEs do not require advanced skills or heavy infrastructure to deploy most AI tools.
“Many AI solutions are affordable, easy to use and can be implemented without deep technical expertise,” he added.
He advised a phased adoption approach, including identifying challenges, deploying tools, integrating workflows and measuring impact within 7 to 14 days.
Olufemi Odunmboni, Head of Online Banking and Digital Channels, said FirstBank had developed about 19 AI-powered platforms supporting SMEs.
“These platforms enable credit scoring, payments, payroll processing and access to instant loans without collateral,” Odunmboni said.
He added that transaction data and behavioural analytics were deployed to assess creditworthiness and strengthen security systems.
Ibidun Adedewe, Head of SME Acquisitions and Partnerships, said the bank had disbursed over N1 trillion in digital loans to SMEs.
“About N100 billion went to traders, while N200 billion supported other sectors, largely driven by AI-enabled credit scoring,” Adedewe said.
She noted that the SMEConnect platform linked businesses to funding, partners and capacity-building opportunities to accelerate growth.
Adedewe urged SMEs to separate personal and business finances to enhance structure, transparency and long-term scalability.
Abednego Ugwueke, Head of Digital Channels, said AI was also deployed for fraud detection, security enhancement and personalised customer services.
“SMEs should begin with simple tools for messaging, contracts and customer communication before scaling adoption,” Ugwueke advised.
The session concluded with a call for sustained AI adoption to drive competitiveness, innovation and long-term growth among Nigerian SMEs.
