The Three Big 2026 AI Advances and What They Mean for UK Sole Traders.
Every day there seems to be another story on the news about AI. How it’s becoming more advanced, how it’s taking our jobs, how it’s changing the world. But when you’re in the sole trader trenches and your working day involves getting hands on with emulsion, engine oil or compost, the possibility of AI capabilities having any impact on how you paint a wall, service a car or pot up some seedlings seems very far away. And on the practicalities side, you’re not wrong. We’re a long, long way from robots capable of doing these tasks in any meaningfully cost-effective way. But AI having an overall impact on how we operate isn’t just in the near future, it’s here now.
Where AI can really help you today is not on the job itself, but on the marketing, bookkeeping and paperwork that sit around every job. It doesn’t matter if you’re a gardener, a painter, a mechanic or a baker. You might spend all day every day working with your hands, but you still have to put your marketing/bookkeeping/PA hat on and get down to the admin drudge when you get home. It’s boring, but necessary to keep the business going and the money coming in, and its usually time consuming. And time is the one thing which, as anyone who works for themselves can tell you, is always in short supply. Anything that speeds up the admin grind has got to be a bonus, right? Absolutely, so read on to find out the three big ways AI is going to help you in 2026. And don’t worry. You don’t need to be tech savvy to use any of this. If you can send a text and take a photo, you’re already there.
AI Agents.
AI agents are software programs that can act independently of user supervision. Simply put, these are apps and programs that can answer emails (think automated responses), book calendar dates and times (a way to allow clients to book themselves into your system), upload social media and blog posts (post schedule is set by the user, the AI agent then posts the specified information at the specified dates) and chatbots (who can answer simple questions and forward requests to specific webpages or email addresses).
AI agents are becoming more sophisticated and more mainstream all of the time, and if you spend any time on the internet, you’ll undoubtedly have come across them. Newer AI agents can also link several steps together: for example, drafting a reply, adding a calendar event and logging the job in your system from a single request. You may think of this kind of tech as being purely for IT companies and businesses with big budgets, but AI agents can also be used by small businesses, even if we don’t have much cash spare to shell out on a digital assistant.
The best and most useful of these AI agents is the range of accountancy and bookkeeping software now available. The new Making Tax Digital quarterly submissions we’ll all have to upload into HMRC (from April 2026 if turnover is over £50k per annum, or from April 2027 if turnover is over £30k per annum), requires you to use compatible software. Lucky for us, there are decent bookkeeping packages that are either free or low cost, particularly if your turnover or use requirements are low. Have a look on the HMRC website for more information about how to choose the right bookkeeping software. I’ve included a link at the end of this blog post.
On Device AI for Smartphones
Also known as Edge AI, On Device is all about keeping your AI assistant on your phone rather than in the cloud. All data is processed on the device itself rather than remotely in the cloud, and this has several advantages over the traditional cloud-based AI models. And it’s not just smartphone manufacturers that are including this technology. Wearables like smart watches, driverless cars and smart home devices like Alexa and Nest are all moving or have already moved to On Device.
There are several sound reasons for this rapid take up by the big players in smart technology, one of which is cyber security. Because data is contained within the device and not sent into the internet-based cloud, On Device AI can improve privacy and reduce some risks - though this is on the grounds that the device itself is well protected, with strong passwords and fully installed updates as a minimum. Good password protection on your WiFi network, as well as all WiFi connected devices make life much more difficult for any hackers too.
In addition to greater cyber security, On Device is faster than cloud-based AI models and doesn’t rely on a good internet connection to work. There is nothing more frustrating than a woeful mobile signal when you need to look something up or find an email asap. And for us rural sole traders in particular, a good, steady signal is not a given: too many of the smaller towns and villages have coverage that is patchy at best and non-existent at worst. So having an AI assistant that is installed and located on your phone can be a real benefit. You can dictate notes, draft messages or sort your to‑do list on the move, and then everything syncs once your phone finds a signal again.
Multimodal AI.
Multimodal AI means one assistant that can handle different types of input and output – text, images, audio, and sometimes even video – in a single, joined‑up flow. Claude, for example, can now analyse and generate text, work with documents, help build charts or slide outlines, write and read code, and, in some setups, browse or search content. ChatGPT can understand and create images and, where enabled, listen to your voice and hold a spoken conversation, as well as answer questions and draft text. Some of the more advanced capabilities do depend on having a subscription, but even on the free tiers, the multimodal capabilities of the AI models are very useful.
For a busy sole trader, the real benefit of using a truly multimodal assistant is the time it can save. You’re not juggling five different apps and formats – you just show or say what you need, once. Imagine taking a quick photo of a finished job and your on‑device assistant turning that into a short email, attaching the image, and preparing an invoice ready to send. Or asking it out loud to “write three social posts about today’s job in Cirencester, friendly but professional” and having those appear on your phone without typing a word. The same photo could also be turned into a simple before‑and‑after collage for your website, or the details logged into your job records without you typing them in. Multimodal capabilities are what turn your favourite AI assistant from a clever chatbot into a hands‑free helper that fits around how you actually work day to day. A real game changer if your office is wherever you happen to be when you get 5 minutes to check your phone.
If you’re wondering where to get started, I always advise going small, simple and free as a first step. If the new Making Tax Digital rules are worrying you, head over to the HMRC MTD site and have a look at the various recommended bookkeeping apps. Link the page to Perplexity and ask it to compare which app is likely to suit you best on the free or cheap tier, based on your turnover and how many invoices you send each month. If the thought of marketing makes your blood run cold, or sends you to sleep, upload a picture of your latest completed job to ChatGPT and ask it to create a social media post using your company colours and logo. Drop in some text (prewritten by ChatGPT, it’s really good at this too) and you have an oven ready social post.
As always, never upload any details to the internet or cloud that are not going to a password protected area (such as cloud storage). If you’re using an AI model to create content don’t include sensitive, personal or financial details, and that includes client details as well as your own. And if you’re on a fact-finding quest, check with the source before committing any money. Treat anything AI tells you as a starting point, not gospel, especially if it involves tax, law or large sums of money.
For more plain English, jargon-free and impartial advice and information (including one on fact checking), have a look through the rest of my blog posts.
HMRC Making Tax Digital Advice for Small Businesses: Making Tax Digital