Supporting Native American business success means embracing AI

To address these concerns and ensure tribal communities are set up for success in the digital age, state lawmakers should seek faster buildout of the funds already allocated for high-speed broadband in rural, and specifically Native, communities. This will prevent any unnecessary delays to AI utilization for Native-owned businesses, ensuring many have equitable access to these innovative tools.”

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For generations, minority-owned businesses, particularly those in Native American communities nationwide, have faced barriers to growth. Legal inadequacies, limited access to capital and often insufficient infrastructure have prevented many Native-owned businesses from reaching their promise.

These challenges have led to a high rate of financial fragility — with nearly 40% of Native-owned businesses reporting operating at a loss as recently as 2023. Our tribal, state and national leaders must take note — and take action.

At the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development, we work to change that story by bolstering Native-owned businesses nationwide. We train, provide critical resources and serve as an advocate for Native-owned businesses in Washington, D.C., and states across the country — including our home in Arizona.

While creating opportunities and supporting economic development and growth in the communities that need it the most have meaningful impact, sustainable progress relies on employing every tool we can access, including the innovative technologies shaping today’s economy. 

Artificial intelligence has captured the attention of our state, nation and world for its potential to change the very nature of work. AI means businesses of every size are getting access to unprecedented data-informed insights and automations that give them a new critical edge in streamlining operations and navigating growth and challenges.

For minority small and medium-sized business owners, the emergence of AI has helped to level the playing field with larger competitors, particularly for minority-owned businesses. As a result, we’ve seen those businesses become the earliest adopters of the technology, amid the broader trend of small and medium-sized businesses utilizing the technology to accelerate growth. 

For the Native American community, AI’s value extends far beyond its business uses; it also helps to preserve endangered cultures and languages. With a number of Native languages rapidly approaching extinction, researchers are developing new AI-powered tools to help educate non-speakers, revitalize their use and ensure they are not erased from history.

At the same time, as the Native tech community grows, creators have also leveraged AI models to support the creation of art and culture that will ensure they reach generations to come. 

These deployments offer a real chance for AI to drive both economic growth and cultural preservation in tribal areas that have long been overlooked. But limited broadband in tribal households, especially in Arizona, threatens to stall this progress; and restrictive state regulations could make it worse.

To address these concerns and ensure tribal communities are set up for success in the digital age, state lawmakers should seek faster buildout of the funds already allocated for high-speed broadband in rural, and specifically Native, communities. This will prevent any unnecessary delays to AI utilization for Native-owned businesses, ensuring many have equitable access to these innovative tools. 

Today, more than 300,000 Native-owned businesses employ hundreds of thousands of Americans. With the support of state lawmakers in Arizona and beyond, and the expansion of access to innovative technologies like AI, we have a real chance to expand that number dramatically, adding to the vibrant competition of our state and national economies and better reflecting the breadth of the entrepreneurial spirit of all who call our state and country home.

Editor’s note: Chris James is president and CEO of Mesa-based National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development. He lives in Gilbert. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.