Because most large tech companies are driven by it right now and you likely interact with a system influenced by ML every time you use your phone, email, maps,

Because most large tech companies are driven by it right now and you likely interact with a system influenced by ML every time you use your phone, email, maps, translation, social media etc etc. The catch it's only transformative if you're dealing with large enough problems. You're right that more tiny companies should probably stick to classic analysis techniques.