(Photo Illustration by Cheng Xin/Getty Images)
Getty Images
Here are five things in small business technology news that happened this week and how they affect your business. Did you miss them?
This Week in Small Business Technology News
Small Business Technology News #1 – Microsoft launches ‘Agent 365’ for AI management.
Microsoft has launched Agent 365 – a centralized dashboard for managing AI agents across enterprises – designed to help businesses track, govern, and integrate AI agents into workflows, similar to how HR systems manage human employees. With Agent 365’s centralized management, users have improved visualization, access control and interoperability. It also integrates security tools like Microsoft Defender, Entra, and Purview, and supports both Microsoft’s own Copilot agents and third-party platforms such as Adobe, ServiceNow, and Workday. The announcement reflects Microsoft’s bet that enterprises will need robust oversight tools as AI agents proliferate. (Source: Tech.co)
Why this is important for your small business:
If you’re opting to build your own agentic AI applications for your business rather than waiting for your software vendors to do so then this is a tool that will be your central management hub for agents. It makes sense, because before you know it businesses will have many agents doing many things and it will need a single place to manage them all.
Small Business Technology News #2 – A new era of intelligence with Gemini 3.
Google has introduced Gemini 3 – its most advanced AI model to date – designed to deliver state-of-the-art reasoning, multimodal understanding, and agentic capabilities. It’s rolling out across Google products including Search, the Gemini app, AI Studio, Vertex AI, and a new developer platform called Google Antigravity. (Source: Google)
Why this is important for your small business:
This is a new release that will be of most interest to developers, not necessarily users or business owners until their develops create solutions using these tools. According to Google, an example of upgraded capabilities includes “learn anything” which allows Gemini to synthesize information about any topic across text, images, video, audio, and code with a 1M-token context window. Gemini can “build anything” using “vibe coding” and agentic coding, enabling richer web UIs and autonomous software development. “Plan anything” demonstrates Gemini’s long-horizon planning, managing complex workflows like inbox organization or service booking. Gemini 3 represents Google’s boldest step toward AGI-like intelligence, positioning itself as both a thought partner for individuals and a development powerhouse for enterprises.
Small Business Technology News #3 – Revolutionary Intuit OpenAI partnership: $100M deals brings TurboTax and QuickBooks to ChatGPT.
Intuit has announced a $100 million partnership with OpenAI to integrate its financial products – TurboTax, Credit Karma, QuickBooks, and Mailchimp – directly into ChatGPT. This move represents one of the largest enterprise adoptions of generative AI, enabling millions of users to manage taxes, credit, business finances, and marketing through natural conversation inside ChatGPT. The partnership signals a transformative moment in financial technology, merging Intuit’s financial expertise with OpenAI’s conversational AI. It positions ChatGPT as a hub for personal and business financial management.(Source: CryptoRank)
Why this is important for your small business:
ChatGPT already gives you the ability to connect many other business applications like Slack, Gmail, Outlook and Dropbox. Continuing down that path, the platform is now linking to accounting systems. According to Intuit, users can ask questions and complete complex financial tasks such as IRS filing or managing business finances through natural conversation with ChatGPT. Via user permission, Intuit’s apps will access financial data to offer personalized assistance with tax preparation, financial decision making, and streamline business operations.
Small Business Technology News #4 – Yelp’s 2025 AI features boost SMB traffic 25% with local SEO tools.
Yelp has unveiled new AI-powered features in 2025 that help small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) boost customer traffic through advanced local SEO tools and personalized engagement strategies. The new features now automatically updates business profiles based on real-time data around user preferences and seasonal trends. Enhanced geo-targeting helps businesses reach more customers while gaining higher visibility in local search results. Smart messaging tools help SMBs respond faster and more effectively to inquiries and reviews with personalized responses crafted by AI. (Source: WebProNews)
Why this is important for your small business:
For retailers and other business owners who lean heavily into Yelp to generate traffic, these are welcome AI rollouts that will make it easer to attract new customers to their stores.
Small Business Technology News #5 – Microsoft Teams will tell your boss when you’re out of the office.
Microsoft Teams is rolling out a new feature in December 2025 that can automatically notify managers when employees are in or out of the office by tracking their connection to workplace Wi-Fi. When an employee steps away, Teams automatically updates their work location status. In the interest of privacy, this new feature is off by default – tenant admins have the options to enable it and employees must opt in. As more companies push for in-person work, this tool gives managers an easy way to see who’s physically present. However, it also raises privacy and trust concerns for employees wary of being tracked. (Source: Mashable)
Why this is important for your small business:
Turn this off and keep it off. Don’t do this with your employees. Treat them grownups. As long as they’re getting their work done and meeting expectations, it’s irrelevant where they’re doing the work.
Each week I round up five small business technology news stories and explain why they’re important for your business. If you have any interesting stories, please post to my X account @genemarks