NAVIGATING ENTREPRENEURIAL CHALLENGES WITH THE HELP OF AI: AWARENESS, BENEFITS, AND BARRIERS IN AI TOOLS UTILIZATION BY KNOWLEDGE INTENSIVE ENTERPRISES

Abstract

This thesis aimed to find a connection between the utilization of AI tools and the challenges faced by knowledge-intensive enterprises (KIEs). Therefore, the purpose was to showcase that entrepreneurs and professionals are aware that they can use AI for overcoming the challenges that they face within their enterprises and do not use them just for the sake of it. The focus was also to the challenges that they faced during the utilization of the tools that they used, and recommendations they had. For reaching the goals, a mixed method was used, including quantitative data from survey responses and qualitative data from interviews. The findings showcased that the level of awareness was low since only one survey respondent and one interviewee used AI tools for overcoming challenges they faced. The challenges that they faced were: lack of reputation, and business model development. Regarding the challenges associated with AI tools utilization, these were mainly: the usage of an appropriate prompt, and initial costs.