A groundbreaking new partnership will help Australian businesses combine AI with offshore workers as rising costs and skills shortages force SMEs to rethink how they survive and thrive in the current market.
Australian small businesses struggling with rising wages, skills shortages and relentless operating costs are being offered a new way to fight back with mySMB.com and outsourcing specialist Orbii joining forces to help SMEs combine artificial intelligence with global human talent.
The partnership brings together mySMB.com, an AI first business productivity and community platform for small and medium businesses and Orbii, an Australian outsourcing and offshoring advisory and matching platform founded by industry expert Ivan Trajkovski.
Together, the businesses want to help Australian SMEs solve one of the biggest issues facing business owners right now – how do I do more and deliver better value while cutting expenses and improving profitability in the face of increasing red tape and rising costs.
The partnership will help businesses to identify what they can give to AI, what can be done by a human and how much of the work really needs to be kept in Australia.
Orbii founder and CEO Ivan Trajkovski said Australian businesses are entering a new era where the companies that thrive will not necessarily be those with the biggest local workforces, but those that work out how to combine local employees, AI and global talent effectively.
“Everyone is talking about AI replacing jobs but that is only half the story,” Trajkovski said.
“The real opportunity for small business is learning how to use AI and global talent together.
“AI can do extraordinary things but businesses still need people to manage customers, solve problems, make decisions, build relationships and get things done.
“For the first time, a small Australian business can potentially access technology and skilled people from around the world that were once largely the domain of major corporations.”
The traditional small business workforce is changing
The partnership comes as small and medium businesses continue to grapple with the cost of wages, office space, superannuation, recruitment and increasingly difficult skills shortages.
Trajkovski believes this is forcing business owners to rethink the traditional assumption that every role needs to be filled by someone sitting in the same office or even the same country.
“An Australian business might have its leadership and customer facing people here, use AI to automate repetitive processes and engage talented people overseas for administration, finance support, technology, marketing or other functions,” he said.
“This approach isn’t about replacing the Australian workforce, it is about giving smaller businesses access to capacity they simply may not otherwise be able to afford.”
“We will help businesses work out the right mix and solution. This will involve deciding how much of the business’ operations are undertaken by AI and humans, local or offshore. This is about working out the smartest combination for the business.”
“For a long time, large businesses have had the ability to access advice and resources to make this possible. We are now making this a reality for smaller businesses too. We are effectively strapping a rocket to SMEs all over the country and they are going to love the ride.”
Taking the confusion out of AI and outsourcing
For many small business owners, however, both AI and outsourcing remain confusing.
There are thousands of AI products competing for attention and an enormous global outsourcing industry spanning countries, providers, employment models and service offerings.
The partnership is designed to help remove that complexity.
mySMB.com provides SMEs with practical AI tools, education and business support through its Workspace, AI Studio, myAcademy, mySMB.com Community and Marketplace.
Orbii helps businesses identify what they could outsource, understand different offshore models and find suitable providers and global talent.
“For us, this partnership is about helping SMBs build capacity and capability without adding unnecessary complexity,” mySMB.com Business Development Executive Max Jones said.
“The right combination of AI, technology and global talent can help businesses do more with the resources they have.”
“Working with Orbii gives the SMB community access to practical, trusted guidance so they can make informed decisions and grow with confidence.”
A global workforce is no longer just for big business
Trajkovski, who has more than 20 years of experience in outsourcing, said one of the biggest barriers for SMEs has traditionally been knowing where to start.
“There is extraordinary talent around the world, but finding a person on the internet and hoping it works out isn’t an outsourcing strategy,” he said.
“Businesses need to understand what they should offshore, where they should offshore it, what it should cost, which provider or model is appropriate and how that person or team will work with the Australian business,”
“What excites me about this partnership is that we can put that expertise directly in front of Australian SMEs while mySMB.com helps them understand and adopt AI.”
“You don’t need to be a multinational anymore to build a global workforce.”
Orbii also operates a comprehensive register of offshore service providers, enabling businesses to explore and compare providers, services, locations and capabilities in one place.
Through the partnership, mySMB.com members and the wider SME community will gain access to outsourcing education, practical guidance and Orbii’s expertise alongside mySMB.com’s existing AI tools and business resources.
Trajkovski believes the businesses that get the combination right could gain a significant competitive advantage.
“Small business owners are constantly being told to do more with less. Our partnership shows them how,” he said.
“AI gives them leverage, global talent gives them capacity and putting the two together properly enables them to completely rethink what a small business is capable of achieving.”
