AI is giving small businesses access to insights in real time without adding to the finance team, Mark Barnett, global head of small and medium enterprises at Mastercard, told FinAi News.

“AI is changing commercial payments by moving them from a largely reactive function to a much more intelligent and proactive one,” Barnett said, noting that instead of using payment data as historical information, it is “helping businesses understand what is likely to happen next.”

AI opens up cash flow forecasting, invoicing information, payment pattern monitoring and more for practical guidance at small businesses, he said.

Barnett discussed with FinAi News how Mastercard is helping small business clients unlock the potential for AI applications within operations. What follows is an edited version of that interview:

FinAi News: What role does Mastercard play in helping small and midsize businesses adopt and benefit from AI?

Mark Barnett: For small and midsize businesses, the real challenge is not just access to technology — it is access to simple, trusted and genuinely useful technology. Many smaller businesses are already juggling multiple tools and payment methods, and they do not have time to stitch together complex systems themselves. Mastercard’s role is to help reduce that complexity by embedding intelligence into the tools, platforms and payment experiences businesses already use.

That is the thinking behind innovations like Mastercard Virtual C-Suite, which is designed to bring executive-level insight to smaller businesses in a practical, accessible way using simple, easily understandable language. By securely combining a business’s own financial data with Mastercard’s broader payments insights, the solution can surface timely, actionable recommendations across cash flow, payments and working capital, while keeping final decision-making firmly in the hands of the business owner.

Put simply, it helps small businesses harness the benefits of AI without needing to become AI experts.

Small businesses should be able to benefit from the same level of intelligence and protection that larger enterprises have historically enjoyed, but in a way that fits the realities of how they operate.

FinAi News: How is AI helping businesses unlock new insights from data, and what opportunities are emerging that were difficult to access in the past?

MB: Commercial payments data has always held major value, but much of that value has been difficult to unlock with the data being fragmented, backward-looking or too complex to interpret quickly. AI changes that by helping businesses connect payment activity with broader operational signals — invoices, supplier behavior, payroll, receivables and purchasing patterns — and convert that into meaningful decision support in real time.

What is emerging is a much more dynamic model of decision-making. Instead of looking at reports after the fact, businesses can increasingly use payments data as a live source of intelligence that informs what to do next. That is especially powerful in commercial payments, because cash flow and working capital sit at the center of so many business decisions.

That opens up opportunities that were previously hard to access, especially for businesses without large analytics teams. For example, Mastercard’s Virtual CFO helps a business move from simply tracking performance to actively managing and optimizing it in real time. It can surface early warning signals on cash flow gaps, recommend when to pay suppliers or delay spend to preserve liquidity, and identify opportunities to improve working capital across receivables and payables.

Powered in part by Mastercard’s transaction intelligence, the Virtual CFO can benchmark a business against relevant peers, helping owners understand how they compare on key financial metrics and identify opportunities to improve performance.

For a small business owner, that means having access to the kind of financial foresight, benchmarking and decision support that was previously only available to larger enterprises with dedicated finance teams.

FinAi News: How are you thinking about the role of natural language and AI in simplifying decision-making for business owners, while still ensuring they remain in control?

MB: What we’re seeing with the Virtual C-Suite is a real shift in how small businesses can make decisions — moving from complex tools and manual analysis to something far more intuitive and accessible. By using simple, standard language, a business owner can simply ask questions about their cash flow, payments or working capital, and receive clear, tailored recommendations in return.

But what’s critical is that this is not about replacing the business owner — it’s about making their lives easier. In the past, entrepreneurs often had to adapt their workflows to fit the tools available to them. In the age of AI and agentic experiences, that dynamic is beginning to reverse: The technology can increasingly understand the owner’s intent and adapt to how they want to work.

We built this for humans, with the business owner remaining firmly in control. AI can surface insights, identify patterns and recommend actions, but the final decisions still rest with the owner, who understands the unique context of their business better than anyone else.

FinAi News: Beyond the technology itself, how is Mastercard thinking about these innovations as a driver of financial inclusion for SMEs, and what more needs to happen to ensure these businesses can fully participate in and benefit from the digital economy?

MB: Innovation only matters if it expands access and creates real opportunity for small businesses. SMEs make up 90% of businesses globally, yet many still face barriers to capital, tools and networks needed to grow.

What’s changing is that innovation — especially AI and embedded financial services — is helping level the playing field, giving smaller businesses access to capabilities once reserved for large enterprises. But it only works if it’s practical, which is why we focus on embedding these tools into the platforms SMEs already use.

At the same time, financial inclusion is about more than access — it’s about empowerment. Through initiatives like Mastercard Strive, we’re helping businesses overcome key barriers like digitization, access to capital and building stronger networks.

FinAi News: The pace of AI innovation continues to accelerate. As a leader overseeing a global business, how do you ensure your teams remain agile while balancing innovation?

MB: For me, the key is staying very focused on where AI can solve real customer problems rather than chasing novelty for its own sake. Innovation matters, but in payments and commercial solutions, it has to be grounded in trust, security and operational relevance. So, we encourage teams to move quickly, test ideas and stay close to changing customer needs — but always with a clear understanding of where Mastercard can uniquely add value.

Agility also comes from combining experimentation with strong foundations. That means investing in the right infrastructure, data capabilities, partnerships and governance so teams can innovate confidently. One of the advantages Mastercard brings is deep experience in building secure, global-scale payment systems – allowing us to approach emerging technologies like agentic AI with both ambition and discipline.

Just as importantly, we try to stay pragmatic. The most successful teams are not the ones that adopt every new tool first; they are the ones that can identify where technology meaningfully improves outcomes for customers and then scale that responsibly. In a fast-moving environment, that balance of curiosity, focus and execution is what keeps an organization both innovative and resilient.

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