Square AI launched in Australia for small businesses

Square has launched Square AI in Australia, giving sellers a free conversational assistant built into its platform.

The tool lets businesses ask questions in everyday language about sales and operations using their own data. It sits within Square's existing software and is designed to work across payments, sales and other day-to-day business functions without separate tools or integrations.

The launch comes as Australian businesses report heavy time demands from administration and data handling. Research commissioned by Square found business owners spend an average of 3.34 hours a week analysing business data, or more than 10,000 minutes a year.

Data demands

The survey of 500 Australian business owners found 64% already use AI, although only 41% use it regularly. More than half described themselves as instinct-led decision makers, while 21% said they were data-led.

At the same time, 92% said they felt more confident when intuition was backed by data and insights.

Square AI can draw on a seller's own information as well as local context such as weather, events and neighbourhood trends. Users can ask about year-on-year sales, top-selling items, daily takings, peak trading hours and week-on-week performance, with AI-generated charts available through the dashboard and mobile app.

Local insights

The assistant also stores conversation history, allowing users to revisit earlier queries and track changes over time, including whether staffing changes or promotions affected results.

David Schnabl, Head of Account Management at Square in Australia, said the company built the tool in response to pressure on small business owners.

"Speaking to Aussie businesses, we hear that time is one of the most valuable resources right now," said David Schnabl, Head of Account Management, Square Australia.

"It's a challenging business environment at the moment, and with so many pressures on owners, every minute counts. We've built Square AI to help shoulder some of that burden and reduce the time spent on admin and analysis, so businesses can focus more on their customers and their success."

Use cases

Businesses involved in private testing in Australia have already used the system to get quicker answers from large volumes of data and spend less time working through spreadsheets and reports. One early user was Butter, a food and retail business in Surry Hills.

"Running a hospo business right now is tough, and the margin for error is small," said Julian Cincotta, co-founder, Butter.

"We're in our numbers every week because the environment's constantly shifting and you have to stay on top of it. Square AI gives us real clarity: it quickly and easily shows us where revenue's coming from, when service is quiet, and where we can adjust staffing or rethink how we trade across the week. We can act faster and make confident decisions without losing hours to reports, and that makes a real difference."

The research suggests smaller businesses may have the most to gain from tools that make analysis easier to access. Larger businesses are more likely to use AI to guide decisions, but smaller operators are also data-driven and may benefit from simpler access to insights.

Platform shift

For Square, the launch extends the role of its platform beyond payments processing into analysis and decision support. Because it already handles sales and operational information in one system, it can use that data to answer performance questions within the same interface business owners already use.

Willem Avé, Global Head of Product at Square, said the company had already seen adoption in other markets.

"Across our markets, we're already seeing businesses use Square AI to get clearer on their performance, make faster decisions, and spend less time buried in reports," said Willem Avé, Global Head of Product, Square.

"Businesses generate enormous amounts of data every day through payments and commerce. For a long time, turning that data into real insight has been something reserved for larger organisations with analysts and operations teams. Square AI levels the playing field by bringing powerful analytics into the flow of running a business through a simple, conversational AI assistant. It enables businesses of every size to combine their instinct with real data, without complexity."

Square's survey also pointed to how business owners believe they would use time saved from analysing data. Respondents said they would spend it improving work-life balance, spending more time with customers and developing new ideas for growth.