Digital & AI in SMEs: Smaller, Faster, Better
Adapt, Align, Accelerate: The Rhythm of Digital Progress
No one wants to scribble designs on paper or pass CAD files around by email anymore.
“Digital transformation” is one of those phrases that can make a room full of business leaders quietly tense up. It conjures images of five-year ERP rollouts, spiralling budgets, and consultants marching through offices armed with frameworks and flowcharts. The end result, too often, is an over-engineered system that no one enjoys using.
But that’s not how digital transformation has to look—especially not for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
At Astra Holding Group, we see it differently. Transformation doesn’t start with technology. It starts with a PROBLEM. The right technology comes later, almost naturally, once the real pain points are clear.
Our founders, Sergey and Amit, learnt this lesson from years spent building and deploying digital systems at Microsoft, Rocket Internet, and BCG Digital Ventures. What they found is deceptively simple: when you start with what’s broken and involve the people who live with those problems every day, digital change becomes not only easier, it becomes desirable.
When the process begins with the people and their problems, technology turns from an imposition into an enabler. Across Astra’s portfolio, we’ve seen that the most successful digital initiatives share one trait: they’re grounded in real work. Not strategy decks or buzzwords, but daily tasks, quoting, scheduling, tracking, maintaining.
Here’s what that looks like in practice.
Design and Quoting: Digital Tools Built by the People Who Use Them
At Interdoor, a 20-year decided to build an internal design and quoting suite using Dyad—a no-code platform. The result wasn’t a grand digital “project” but a set of practical, homegrown tools that let engineers quote repair jobs instantly, right from the customer site.
No more calling the head office. No duplicate entries. No waiting around for approvals. And perhaps most importantly, no need to persuade anyone to use it, it was their idea in the first place.
Meanwhile, at Acorn, the quoting team took a different approach, adopting off-the-shelf AI tools to automate parts of the tendering process. The result has been a surge in both volume and speed, with a measurable boost in efficiency and morale.
Asset Monitoring: From Data Overload to Real Clarity
Everyone loves to talk about PREDICTIVE MAINTENANCE.
But honestly, most customers would be thrilled just to know:
What assets they’ve got
What condition they’re in
And when the next service is due
That’s exactly what Interdoor’s “Vision” tool delivers — a clean RAG (Red, Amber, Green) status view of every door on site, complete with service history and upcoming jobs.
It gives maintenance managers real peace of mind and takes a huge load off their daily tracking.
Acorn takes this even further. Using Matterport, they scan entire plant rooms and attach digital notes. Managers can now “walk through” remotely and see what’s been done , and what’s next — without leaving their desks.
Field Force Management: Getting the Right People to the Right Place
No one enjoys driving between sites unnecessarily. Tools like Simpro, BigChange, Zinier, and Fyld help dispatch managers, schedule jobs efficiently, so the right person arrives at the right time.
The benefits flow through the whole business: Engineers have fewer late-night callouts, customers see faster service, and finance teams maintain healthier margins.
It’s not glamorous transformation, it’s practical progress. Large organisations often treat digital transformation as an event: a roadmap, a committee, a milestone. SMEs, by contrast, can treat it as an ATTITUDE.
They can start small, test fast, and involve the people who know the work best. They don’t need steering committees or 100-page presentations to get started, just the willingness to ask, “What’s the problem we’re actually trying to solve?” When they do that, something remarkable happens: adoption takes care of itself. The people who helped design the solution don’t need convincing. They use it because it works.
That’s where SMEs have an edge.
Their size is not a limitation, it’s an advantage.
The Real Trick: Start With the Problem
At Astra Holding Group, we believe that digital transformation isn’t about chasing the newest tool or trend. It’s about solving real problems with clarity and care, and trusting that technology will follow. When you do that, adoption isn’t an issue. The team will find the right tool. They might even BUILD it themselves.
No endless steering committees. No 100-page PowerPoints.
Just small teams, moving fast, solving problems, and delivering value.