BILL Debuts AI Agents Focused on Small Business Needs – PYMNTS.com

Report on AI-Powered Financial Automation and its Alignment with Sustainable Development Goals

Introduction: Technological Innovation for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

A new suite of Artificial Intelligence (AI) agents has been launched by BILL to automate financial workflows for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), often referred to as the “Fortune 5 Million.” This development directly supports several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by enhancing efficiency, promoting economic growth, and reducing inequalities within the business sector.

Key Features of the AI Agents

• Autonomous collection and validation of W-9 tax forms.
• Automated reconciliation of receipts and transaction coding.
• Streamlined user onboarding processes.
• Execution of routine back-office financial tasks.

Contribution to Sustainable Development Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

The AI agents significantly contribute to SDG 8 by fostering sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth and promoting productive employment.

• Enhanced Productivity: By automating manual tasks such as W-9 collection and expense management, the technology eliminates inefficiencies. The BILL W-9 Agent is projected to save an estimated 650,000 hours for customers, allowing employees to focus on higher-value, growth-oriented activities.
• SMB Growth: Freeing business leaders from back-office management enables them to concentrate on strategic growth and customer service, thereby strengthening the economic viability of smaller enterprises.
• Improved Work Quality: The automation of repetitive and tedious tasks contributes to the “decent work” aspect of SDG 8, allowing for a more skilled and strategically focused workforce.

Contribution to Sustainable Development Goal 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure

This initiative embodies the principles of SDG 9 by promoting technological innovation and building resilient infrastructure for businesses.

1. Fostering Innovation: The deployment of AI agents represents a significant technological upgrade for SMBs, allowing them to bypass legacy systems and adopt an AI-first business model.
2. Building Resilient Infrastructure: The tools create a more robust and efficient financial back-office, which is a critical component of business infrastructure. The BILL Reconciliation Agent, for example, ensures financial organization and compliance through automated processes.
3. Supporting Small-Scale Enterprises: The technology provides smaller firms with access to sophisticated tools previously available only to large corporations, promoting their integration into the broader economy.

Contribution to Sustainable Development Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities

A primary impact of this technology is its role in leveling the economic playing field, directly addressing the aims of SDG 10.

• Democratizing Technology: The AI agents provide SMBs with the technological capabilities to compete with large enterprises, reducing the operational gap between them.
• Empowering SMBs: By using AI to “compete on smarts,” smaller businesses can achieve a level of efficiency and accuracy that rivals their larger counterparts, fostering a more equitable business environment.

Analysis of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the Article

SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

• The article focuses on a new AI technology designed to help “Fortune 5 Million” companies, which are small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). By automating tedious back-office tasks, the technology allows these businesses to become more efficient and productive. This directly supports economic growth by enabling SMBs, which are critical components of the economy, to thrive. The text states that these tools free “teams to focus on growth and serving their customers,” which is a core element of promoting sustained economic growth.

SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure

• The core topic of the article is a technological innovation (AI agents) being applied to industry. It describes how AI enables smaller firms to “bypass legacy systems and leap directly into an AI-first business model.” This highlights the role of innovation in upgrading industrial capabilities, particularly for smaller enterprises, which aligns with the goal of fostering innovation and building resilient infrastructure. The technology itself is an example of innovative infrastructure for financial management.

SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities

• The article explicitly mentions that the AI technology is “leveling the playing field with enterprise giants” and allowing SMBs to “compete against large enterprises.” This addresses the inequality of opportunity and resources between small and large businesses. By providing SMBs with access to “top-tier finance expertise and tools that were only ever available to enterprise companies,” the innovation helps reduce the competitive gap, promoting a more equitable business environment.

Identified SDG Targets

Targets under SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

1. Target 8.2: Achieve higher levels of economic productivity through diversification, technological upgrading and innovation. The article is a clear example of this target in action. The introduction of BILL’s AI agents represents a significant technological upgrade for SMBs, designed to eliminate inefficiencies and automate manual workflows, thereby increasing their overall economic productivity. The article notes the AI agents “eliminate these workflows, freeing teams to focus on growth.”
2. Target 8.3: Promote development-oriented policies that support productive activities… and encourage the formalization and growth of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises. The technology discussed is explicitly designed to support SMBs. By providing tools that save time and improve accuracy, it directly encourages the growth and operational sophistication of these smaller enterprises, which is a key aspect of this target.

Targets under SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure

1. Target 9.3: Increase the access of small-scale industrial and other enterprises… to financial services… and their integration into value chains and markets. The AI tool is a form of advanced financial service technology. By making this technology accessible to SMBs, it enhances their ability to manage finances effectively, which is crucial for their integration and competitiveness in the market.
2. Target 9.5: Enhance scientific research, upgrade the technological capabilities of industrial sectors in all countries… including… encouraging innovation. The article describes the application of advanced AI to upgrade the technological capabilities of the SMB sector. It showcases how innovation can be tailored to the needs of smaller businesses, as Silicon Valley needs to deliver “AI that actually delivers tangible outcomes that small businesses need.”

Targets under SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities

1. Target 10.3: Ensure equal opportunity and reduce inequalities of outcome. The article’s central theme is that this AI technology gives SMBs capabilities that were previously exclusive to large corporations. This directly addresses the goal of ensuring equal opportunity by providing smaller players with the tools to “rival what large incumbents offer,” thereby reducing the inequality of outcome based on company size.

Implied Indicators for Measuring Progress

Indicators for Target 8.2 (Economic Productivity)

• Hours of labor saved from automation: The article provides a specific metric, stating the technology could save “an estimated 650,000 hours” for customers on a single task (W-9 collection).
• Percentage of manual steps eliminated in business processes: The text mentions that the BILL W-9 Agent “eliminates more than 80% of manual steps involved in collecting W-9s.” This is a direct measure of increased efficiency.

Indicators for Target 9.3 (Access to Technology for SMBs)

• Adoption rate of advanced financial AI tools by SMBs: The article refers to the target market as the “Fortune 5 Million,” implying that the number of SMBs who adopt this technology can be tracked as a measure of increased access.
• Availability of enterprise-grade technology for non-enterprise clients: The existence and market penetration of tools that “unlock top-tier finance expertise and tools that were only ever available to enterprise companies” serves as a qualitative indicator of progress.

Indicators for Target 10.3 (Reduced Inequalities)

• Reduction in the competitive gap between SMBs and large enterprises: While not a direct number, the article’s narrative of “leveling the playing field” implies that a key indicator of success would be the improved ability of SMBs to compete. This could be measured through market share analysis or business growth rates of SMBs using such technology versus those who are not.

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators Table

Source: pymnts.com