Investigating entrepreneurs’ perceived barriers and the role of Generative AI tools

Sammanfattning

Entrepreneurship is often associated with a variety of barriers that can hinder the creation and development of new ventures. At the same time, the rapid diffusion of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools has created new opportunities for entrepreneurs to access knowledge, perform tasks more efficiently, and support decision-making. Despite growing interest in AI-enabled entrepreneurship, limited research has examined how generative AI influences the barriers experienced by early-stage entrepreneurs. The purpose of this study is to identify the barriers faced by early-stage entrepreneurs and examine the role of generative AI tools in addressing these barriers. A qualitative research approach was adopted, based on semi-structured interviews with twelve early-stage entrepreneurs. The study draws on Khanin et al.’s (2022) process-based framework of entrepreneurial barriers and Giuggioli and Pellegrini’s (2023) AI-enabled entrepreneurial process framework. The collected data were analysed using an abductive approach and thematic coding. The findings show that entrepreneurs continue to face barriers related to uncertainty, limited resources, knowledge gaps, workload pressure, customer access, trust, and legitimacy. Generative AI was found to be particularly useful for activities related to learning, research, information processing, writing, coding, and operational execution. In these areas, AI helped founders save time, increase efficiency, and compensate for limitations in expertise and resources. However, the findings also reveal that AI had a more limited effect on barriers related to customer relationships, networking, trust-building, and legitimacy, which remained strongly dependent on human interaction. In addition, participants identified risks associated with generative AI, including unreliable outputs, overreliance, reduced independent thinking, privacy concerns, and dependency on external AI platforms. The study concludes that generative AI does not eliminate entrepreneurial barriers but rather changes how entrepreneurs cope with them. Its value is greatest in addressing cognitive and operational challenges, while social and relational barriers continue to require human judgment and interaction. These findings contribute to a more nuanced understanding of the role of generative AI in early-stage entrepreneurship.