SGIQ Founders Are Using AI To Help Black-Owned Businesses

August 27, 2025

SGIQ Business Solutions is on a mission to help entrepreneurs and business owners leverage AI

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has arrived in the workplace with signs that it’s not only here to stay but is essential to growing and scaling businesses. Shaun Jeffries and Gary Lovelace are making sure that Black-owned and small-owned companies are not getting left behind in AI with their firm, SGIQ Business Solutions. The men are on a mission to help entrepreneurs and business owners leverage AI to improve efficiency, increase productivity, and drive sustainable growth without requiring technical expertise.

“AI can even the playing field for solo entrepreneurs and small agencies that don’t have the money or bandwidth to staff up and get things done,” said Lovelace. “We consult with companies and help them identify their pain points.”

According to research from McKinsey & Company, 92% of companies are planning to increase their AI Investments over the next three years. By the end of 2025, Goldman Sachs analysis estimates that total investments in AI will soar to nearly $200 billion, including companies investing in AI for their workforce and investors backing AI startups. Despite the investments, AI can be overwhelming even for larger corporations, and integrating the technology as a small business owner can hinder scaling when smaller agencies are already strapped for time and resources.

According to Jeffries and Lovelace, a lack of time and money are often significant hurdles for small business owners to get things done. SGIQ technology allows overstretched business owners to scale and manage their businesses with autonomous communication assistants. Some services offered under SGIQ include call and messaging automation, appointment scheduling, chatbot, customer support, sales and lead generation automation, social media and marketing automation, and more.

“This is important because there are a lot of tasks that need to be done to operate a business, but the owner, who is already wearing 10 hats, doesn’t have time to do the things needed to scale their business,” Lovelace adds.

How SGIQ Can Improve Black Small Businesses Through AI

Starting a new business is difficult, and a majority fail within the first few years. According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), nearly 20% of new businesses fail during the first two years of opening. 45% fail during the first five years, and 65% during the first 10 years. Only 25% of new businesses make it to 15 years or more.

However, statistics show a disproportionately high failure rate for Black-owned businesses. The Enterprise Center at Salen State University found that eight out of 10 Black-owned businesses fail within the first 18 months. Many of them face a disproportionate number of challenges, including a lack of access to capital and resources.

With SGIQ, the SGIQ co-founders want to make sure that Black-owned businesses have access to more resources.

“We see the importance of our community and building up businesses to build wealth,” said Lovelace. “We think that this technology will help even the playing field for small businesses and businesses that don’t have a lot of access to capital. You can close some of the gaps with the utilization of AI.”

The men are also setting up a nonprofit called the Linden Institute for AI Literacy, which pays homage to the street they grew up on in Jamaica, Queens. The nonprofit will focus on AI training for educators, parents, and underserved communities amid a competitive global economy.

“As companies are embracing AI to sell you more things and increase their business, we’re not educating our kids to live in that world,” Lovelace added. “In five to ten years from now, the kids in school now are going to be living in a different world with AI. We’re not educating them for the future, we’re educating them for the now. We want to educate them better.”

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