Digital Transformation Isn’t Optional – It’s the New Main Street Advantage

The Impact of Technology on U.S. Small Business survey from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce reports technology’s critical role in business operations. The survey revealed that technology has a key role in helping small businesses weather challenges and small businesses that fully embrace technology outperform their peers and are more optimistic about the future.

According to the survey, companies are also looking to add emerging technologies like AI to their arsenal of digital tools to compete and expand their business. High-tech adopters (firms using six or more platforms) see stronger growth in sales, profits, and employment than low-tech peers, reinforcing the business case for investing in digital tools. Roughly 8 in 10 small businesses say technology helped them cope with inflation, supply-chain issues, and access to capital, making digital tools a key resilience strategy.

Technology in small businesses actually increase sales, profit, and efficiency for a small team (often under five people). Owners see that heavy tech adopters grow faster, but they want concrete use cases like online booking, e-commerce, automated invoicing, and AI-assisted marketing that fit a lean operation

In this environment, Washington’s employees sit at the front line of technological change: they are the ones learning new tools, juggling old workflows, and absorbing both the promise and the pressure of innovation. Any serious conversation about technology and business must include both the needs of the business and what workers need to thrive, not just cope.

What employees really want from tech

Many workers are less interested in buzzwords and more interested in whether technology makes their day tangibly better. They want tools that reduce repetitive work, clarify priorities, and give them more control over how they serve customers, rather than systems that feel like surveillance or extra administration layered onto already full days.

For frontline staff, a new POS system or CRM is meaningful only if it speeds up lines, cuts errors, or makes follow-up easier. Employees want a say in tool selection and rollout because they see quickly where technology clashes with real-world workflows on the shop floor, in the kitchen, or out in the field.

Skills, confidence, and career paths

Technology is reshaping what “entry-level” even means, and employees know that digital skills are fast becoming basic job requirements. Workers in smaller firms often lack structured training, so when new tools arrive, they are quietly expected to “figure it out,” which widens skill gaps, undermines confidence, and leads to work-arounds when the new tool is inefficient or not fully optimized due to cost, lack of front line input or both.

Employees are hungry for clear learning paths: short, practical trainings, paid time to experiment with tools, and recognition when they master new capabilities. When small businesses frame digital upskilling as part of career development—rather than just as a way to do more with fewer people, workers are more likely to embrace new systems and stay longer.

Trust, data, and worker autonomy

As small businesses adopt customer data tools, AI assistants, and connected devices, employees are increasingly concerned about how their own data is used and monitored. Time-tracking apps, productivity dashboards, and AI-generated performance insights can easily feel like a loss of autonomy if there is little transparency about purpose and limits.

Thoughtful leaders explain what is being measured, how data will and will not be used, and where humans will always have the final say. When workers understand that technology is there to augment judgment rather than replace it, they are more willing to contribute ideas on how to refine systems and policies from the inside.

Co-designing digital transformation

The most successful digital transformations treat employees as co-designers, not reluctant users. Inviting staff into pilot projects, asking them to stress-test new tools with real tasks, and incorporating their feedback builds both better systems and deeper buy-in.

This co-creation mindset reframes technology from a top-down mandate to a shared innovation effort. Employees who help design workflows are more likely to champion changes to peers, turning internal skeptics into advocates who can translate abstract “innovation strategies” into everyday language on the job.

An employer of choice mindset

For employees, the real promise of innovation is reduced physical demands, fewer tedious tasks, clearer expectations, and breathing room for creativity and customer connection. Delivering on that promise asks the leaders for a commitment to transparency, paid learning, and shared gains from productivity improvements.

Thought leadership in this space means shifting the narrative from “How can technology help businesses grow?” to include “How can technology help employees grow with them?” In a state defined by both tech giants and Main Street shops, the future of innovation will be written not only in code, but in the everyday experiences of workers who make those businesses possible.