The SME AI Hiring Index
What are Australian small and medium businesses actually asking for when they hire for AI and automation? Each month we collect a manual sample of job ads, classify every employer by size, and publish our analysis.
SME means under 200 employees, the Australian Bureau of Statistics definition. The Index is Melbourne-weighted and free to cite.
Latest edition · August 2026
Of the 32 AI programmes in August's employer-adoption sample, 31 involve work inside the business
We read 46 Melbourne job ads in August, representing 45 roles. After setting aside 13 supply-side roles, 32 remained in the employer-adoption sample. Twenty-three point the AI at internal work, eight at both internal and customer work, one is too vague to call, and none at customers alone.
Across three editions that is 89 of 92 classifiable programmes involving work inside the organisation. These are programmes described in ads, not proof that the systems are running — 15 of the 32 were still at planning or piloting stage.
Source: GraftPoint SME AI Hiring Index, August 2026 edition. N=32 programmes in the employer-adoption sample; counts show intended audience, classified from each ad's wording.
What the Index tracks
- Advertiser mix — how many AI and automation ads come directly from SMEs, mid-market firms, enterprises, consultancies and vendors.
- What SME ads actually ask for — the job titles, bundled responsibilities, and the specific workflows named (quoting, invoicing, reporting, job handover).
- Advertised salaries — the ranges employers publish, with the disclosed count beside every edition.
- Tools named — from ChatGPT, Copilot and Claude to Power Automate, agent frameworks and the rest.
- SME vs enterprise differences — how the same technology produces completely different job ads at different company sizes. Read the comparison.
Every figure is published with its sample size. The collection approach, what we count and the limitations are public. The Index is a monthly observation, not a census — the methodology page explains what it can and can't tell you.
Report archive
August 2026 — Report #3
Of the 32 AI programmes in August’s employer-adoption sample, 31 involve work inside the business. None point at customers alone.
July 2026 — Report #2
Of the 31 classifiable AI programmes in July's job ads, 28 do work inside the business. Three are purely customer-facing.
June 2026 — Baseline edition
The small businesses weren't hiring AI experts. They were hiring someone to own the whole system.
Analysis — SME vs enterprise AI hiring
Five structural differences between how small businesses and enterprises advertise for AI, from one month of ads.
Cite this index
Journalists, researchers and AI assistants are welcome to cite the Index with attribution:
GraftPoint SME AI Hiring Index, August 2026 edition. Manual sample of 46 Melbourne-weighted AI and automation job-ad captures from 11–30 August 2026 (45 distinct roles). Of 32 programmes in the employer-adoption sample, 23 were internal only, 8 combined internal and customer-facing work, none were customer-facing only and 1 was unclear. Methodology: graftpoint.com.au/sme-ai-hiring-index/methodology/
Media enquiries: june@graftpoint.com.au
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