Artificial Intelligence in Small and Medium-Sized Companies - Comparative Analysis of V4 Region

The main aim of this paper is to examine the application of artificial intelligence in small and medium-sized enterprises and to investigate whether the adoption of AI in enterprises across the V4 countries varies not only by country but also by enterprise size. The analysis is based on the latest available Eurostat data and combines descriptive statistics with chi-square tests: (i) a goodness-of-fit test to assess whether AI adoption rates differ across countries, and (ii) an independence test to verify the relationship between company size and AI adoption. The results show statistically significant differences across V4 countries and size categories: larger enterprises show higher adoption than SMEs, and there are significant disparities between countries, with some lagging behind. The findings confirm that structural factors (company size, national context) play a key role in AI deployment. The study provides practical recommendations for policymakers and SME managers: to develop competencies and infrastructure in a targeted manner, to focus support on overcoming identified barriers to adoption, and to monitor the effect of company size on the return on AI implementation.