Tri Counties Bank, the banking subsidiary of TriCo Bancshares, published a research study on how U.S. small businesses are adopting artificial intelligence and what they expect from it. The report finds 73% of owners already use AI—20% extensively—and 83% believe it will benefit their business, mainly through productivity gains, automation, and improved accuracy. It also notes many firms anticipate 6–20% labor cost savings, with AI most commonly applied to marketing content, data entry, and document management.

Disclaimer: This news brief was created by Public Technologies (PUBT) using generative artificial intelligence. While PUBT strives to provide accurate and timely information, this AI-generated content is for informational purposes only and should not be interpreted as financial, investment, or legal advice. TriCo Bancshares published the original content used to generate this news brief via Business Wire (Ref. ID: 202602191628BIZWIRE_USPR_____20260219_BW659485) on February 19, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained therein.