ByAlison Coleman,
Senior Contributor.
Solopreneurship is on the increase globally. In the U.K. last year there were 3.2 million sole proprietorships, a figure that is set to grow. According to the Entrepreneurship in 2026 report, 33% of U.K. adults intend to start a business or side hustle within the next 12 months. However, what has also emerged as a growing barrier for aspiring solopreneurs is a lack of AI literacy.
The latest SME Digital Adoption Taskforce report found that many SMEs, of which solopreneurs represent a significant proportion, still lack the confidence to adopt and use new digital and AI tools effectively. So, given their limited time and budgets, what should solopreneurs be doing to upskill in AI?
“Most solopreneurs don’t have a time problem; they have a prioritization problem,” says Matt Rouif, CEO of Photoroom. “The fastest way to upskill in AI is not to study it in the abstract, but to redesign one core workflow so AI does the first 80% of the work, and the founder applies the final 20% of judgment, taste and accountability.”
