The 4 Bs Framework: How SMBs Can Build Capabilities in the AI Era

Yesterday, we had an eye-opening conversation with Valerie Capers Workman. She said that inside organizations, the question will no longer be "Should we use AI?" but "Why can't AI do this?" Just think how this new mindset shift will affect headcount, budgets, tech stacks, and workforce planning.

On average, 39% of employees' existing skill sets will be transformed or become outdated over the next five years, according to WEF projections. 

To stay employable and competitive, every employee, regardless of role, will need a stronger command of three core capabilities: prompt engineering, data intelligence, and high-output individual contribution. 

The Challenges of Capability Building

As roles change, merge, or disappear, people who can adapt, learn quickly, and use AI effectively will have far more control over their careers than those who hold on to old definitions of "job security".

And this is precisely where most organizations struggle the most: capability building.

In theory, capability building sounds straightforward: "train people, develop skills." In practice, it is one of the hardest things to get right.

Why? Because it means preparing people for the work they need to do today, and the work they'll be asked to do tomorrow. It includes developing new technical abilities, as well as strengthening judgment, communication, adaptability, and trusted decision-making. It requires more than a workshop or a one-off training session. It calls for a system that helps employees experiment, learn, practice, apply, and continuously evolve their skills.

And it demands a particular kind of leadership. Leaders who build trust and communicate openly about the risks, expectations, and opportunities AI opens. 

Capability building is not possible in environments where people feel unsafe or kept in the dark. It's important to let people know how AI will be used, how it will affect decisions, and if their roles will change. Being transparent is the first step if you want to build the trust that AI won't be "done to them," but will be built with them.

The 4 Bs Framework: Build, Buy, Borrow, Bot

The 4 Bs Framework (Build, Buy, Borrow, and Bot) gives leaders a practical roadmap to develop the right capabilities, at the right time, developing skills internally and bringing in expertise when needed, with the right balance between people and technology.

It was initially developed by Nestlé and introduced publicly by Alex Browne, Head of People Analytics, Innovation & Data Science, during a 2023 interview. Nestlé created this model as a simple but powerful way to answer one of the most strategic questions organizations face today:

How do we get the skills and capacity we need?

The framework outlines four pathways:

• Build – develop talent internally through upskilling, reskilling, learning systems, and on-the-job development.
• Buy – hire new, permanent employees when the capability is strategically important or cannot be developed quickly enough.
• Borrow – bring in contingent workers, external experts, or redeploy internal mobility to fill short-term or specialized needs.
• Bot – automate, augment, or redesign workflows using AI and digital tools to increase capacity.

Applying the 4Bs Framework in SMBs: Scaling AI Capabilities Responsibly

Most case studies on AI adoption come from large enterprises. But small and medium-sized businesses face very different realities: small teams with limited budgets and competing priorities.

The good news is that SMBs can still use the 4Bs Framework effectively. The key is to start small, focusing on the most pressing business needs, and keeping humans in the loop. When AI is introduced in targeted, practical pilots (instead of company-wide initiatives), organizations move faster and reduce risk.  Below is how each "B" applies in an SMB environment, using strategies that are affordable, realistic, and designed for teams with limited resources.

1. Build: Upskill Your Existing Team for AI Fluency

The goal is to develop the skills your current team needs for AI-enabled work. Build focuses on creating simple learning pathways, small practice cycles, and real-world scenarios that help employees learn by doing. It supports team members who already understand the business and need help strengthening capabilities like AI literacy, responsible use, and data-informed decision-making.

• Start with short learning cycles that fit the flow of work. Offer free or low-cost online courses in small modules. Encourage employees to learn one skill per week and practice it directly on real tasks such as drafting communications, summarizing documents, or reviewing data.
• Pair employees to practice AI tools together, to reduce uncertainty and create shared learning experiences.
• Create small internal experiments where teams improve a workflow using AI. These experiments help employees apply what they learn to practical tasks.

📊 Track results: Monitor employee confidence and readiness to use AI tools. Track reductions in time spent on repetitive work. Review accuracy or quality improvements in AI-assisted tasks. Count the number of workflows improved through small experiments.

💡 Training Programs: Mini Master on Practical Applications of AI

2. Buy: Hire Targeted Capabilities

The goal is to bring in skills that your current team cannot develop quickly enough. In SMBs, hiring does not need to mean adding senior technical talent or expensive specialists. You can recruit people with hybrid capabilities who understand the business and know how to use AI tools responsibly.

• Hire for hybrid roles that combine business knowledge with AI fluency. Look for candidates who understand workflows and can use AI to improve them. For example, you can hire operations coordinators, marketing generalists, HR specialists, or analysts who know how to work with AI tools safely.
• Use simple sourcing and screening tools to speed up hiring. Tools such as Spark Hire can help SMBs collect one-way video interviews and screen candidates more efficiently. AI should never replace human evaluation, but it can simplify the early steps of the process and save time for small teams.
• Prioritize candidates who understand responsible AI use. Ask practical questions in interviews. "How would you verify the accuracy of AI-generated content?" or "What steps would you take to review data quality?" These questions help identify promising candidates.

📊 Track results: Monitor the speed and efficiency of your hiring cycle, the readiness of new hires to use AI responsibly, the quality of early contributions to AI-enhanced workflows, and the stability and performance of hires during their first 90 days.

3. Borrow: Bring in Expertise Only When Needed

You might need to access specialized skills for a limited period, but this doesn't mean you will add long-term headcount. You can turn to fractional expertise for short-term projects, capability sprints, or moments when the team needs guidance to set up new processes, governance standards, or AI-powered workflows.

• Work with freelance specialists or fractional consultants for focused, short-term needs such as improving workflows, auditing data practices, or supporting responsible AI use.
• Bring in an advisor or contractor to help establish basic governance practices. This ensures safe adoption without the overhead of a full compliance function.
• Use temporary expertise to design internal learning plans or run practical workshops so your team can continue on its own once the project ends.

📊 Track results: Evaluate the speed and quality of project delivery, the amount of knowledge transferred to your internal team, the impact of borrowed expertise on workflow improvements, and the number of governance practices or safety steps successfully implemented.

💡Handy Resource: A Comprehensive Guide on AI Governance

4. Bot: Increase Capacity and Reduce Manual Work

Many SMBs face workflow bottlenecks due to repetitive tasks. Bots help teams remove these bottlenecks by automating simple processes and speeding up routine work. It prepares first drafts, organizes information, and supports employees so they can focus on the tasks that require judgment, expertise, and human context.

• Start with simple, low-risk tasks such as drafting emails, summarizing documents, preparing job descriptions, or extracting insights from customer feedback. These tasks have clear human review steps and are easy to evaluate for quality.
• Use tools with built-in guardrails. Platforms like Microsoft Copilot, Google Workspace AI, and project-specific assistants help small teams adopt AI safely. They support responsible use by keeping data inside secure systems and providing transparent activity logs.
• Apply a human-in-the-loop policy for any output that affects employees, customers, finances, or compliance. Keep trust and oversight at the center of AI adoption.

📊 Track results: Monitor the number of workflows that benefit from AI support, the hours saved on repetitive tasks, the accuracy of AI-generated drafts after human review, and the overall reduction in backlog or turnaround time.

6 Questions SMB Leaders Should Ask Before Expanding AI Capabilities

1. What skills does my team already have, and which ones do we need to strengthen first?
2. Which roles require new permanent capabilities, and where would a targeted hire add the most impact?
3. Where do we need short-term expertise to move faster or set up safe practices?
4. Which repetitive tasks create the biggest bottlenecks for my team?
5. How will we keep a person "in the loop" for sensitive or high-impact decisions?
6. How will we measure progress in the first 30–60 days?

Wrapping Up

Small and medium-sized businesses do not need complex plans to move forward with AI. They need a straightforward way to decide where to grow skills, when to hire, when to bring in outside help, and where automation can support the team. Together, the 4Bs give SMBs a clear structure to grow capabilities, reduce risk, and introduce AI in a manageable and sustainable way:

• Build and strengthen internal capabilities with practical learning and in-the-flow-of-work application.
• Buy, that is, bring in targeted skills when internal development cannot meet business needs fast enough.
• Borrow external, short-term expertise that accelerates progress and supports responsible AI adoption.
• Bot to automate repetitive tasks and increase team capacity with small, safe automations.

Join Us at The AI Experience Summit

Next week, we are kicking off the AI Experience Summit (December 2-5 | 06:30 - 11:00 AM Pacific Time | 100% Free and Virtual), the most fascinating and powerful gathering of AI and People Leaders you will find anywhere. 

Across four days, we will explore how AI is reshaping leadership, work, and the capabilities every organization needs to succeed. Each day will focus on one theme:

Day 1: Strategic Foresight and Leadership in the Age of AI: How leaders set vision, align people, and build the foundations for responsible AI adoption.

Day 2: Execution, Readiness, and Integration: How organizations redesign workflows, prepare teams for new capabilities, and integrate AI safely and practically.

Day 3: Innovation, Risk, and Intelligent Systems: How companies balance innovation with risk, governance, and ethical oversight as AI becomes part of daily work.

Day 4: The Future of Intelligence, Humanity, and Work: How AI changes roles, creativity, meaning, and the skills people need to thrive in the next era of work.

👉 All attendees get a Certificate of Participation. Registration is free!

👉 Check the full agenda and save your spot here: https://bit.ly/3KmDWjm 

🌟 Check out this video to see the amazing panels we put together! ⬇️

🌟  PLUS, we'll open each day with a Fireside Chat you don't want to miss!

• Day 1 - 06:30 - 07:00 AM PT - Fireside Chat with Manish Mittal , Chief Product Officer at Keka HR .
• Day 2 - 06:30 - 07:00 AM PT - Fireside Chat with Oliver Latham , VP EMEA Enterprise Sales Pearson .
• Day 3 - 06:30 - 07:00 AM PT - Fireside Chat with Dr Andrew Clark, Forensic and Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist.
• Day 4 - 06:30 - 07:00 AM PT - Fireside Chat with Ha Cole , Chief AI Officer at Microsoft and Katherine Gibbard, PhD , Research Scientist at SAP SuccessFactors .

👉 JOIN US! Register here: https://bit.ly/3KmDWjm 

Join Our Upcoming Mini Master in Practical AI, starting in January: https://bit.ly/4pwjL19 

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