Since the start of the year we have seen an encouraging amount of government support and investment within AI as a lever for economic growth. Since generative AI hit the mainstream, we have heard so much positive rhetoric on the promise of the technology to enable economic growth, and how the UK is in prime position to lead the charge in this new era. Currently, Britain is the third largest AI market in the world, but how is this translating into UK business performance, and where are the key challenges for UK business leaders to realise the gains across the bottom line?.
Last month at Davos we released our annual report on business leader investment priorities for 2025. The UK insights were highly encouraging. Six in 10 UK businesses feel optimistic about their growth potential for 2025. Nearly two thirds (63%) of UK business leaders are planning to increase investment this year, with generative AI being the top tech investment priority for 8 in 10 UK businesses, followed by cloud (41%), data analytics (33%) and cybersecurity (30%).
Crucially 84% of UK business leaders were confident that generative AI would be a transformative technology that will help drive revenue and innovation, compared to 60% globally. With this potential for British business, its fundamental that we are proactively working to reduce roadblocks and streamline implementation. We know that the UK is home to a thriving AI ecosystem that spans academia, engineering, entrepreneurship and progressive policy making. However, success hinders on skills.
At a national level, we must prioritise investment in data and engineering upskilling. AI can also only be leveraged effectively when we invest in the people who are using the technology, and this requires a joint effort requiring private organisations, local and central government, alongside NGOs to work together to support the nation as we enter a new era in the world of work. This includes embedding AI into the fundamentals of school curriculum, to prepare the future workforce with the right career pathways and qualifications.
Currently, half of UK business leaders believe that generative AI has significantly increased their organisations GHG emissions, but encouragingly a third (33%) are already using generative AI for sustainability initiatives. AI has the potential to accelerate business objectives and sustainability initiatives. We are still at foothills of the opportunities here, and continuous collaboration, research and monitoring are crucial to fully understand and mitigate AI’s environmental impact. But its highly positive for UK business and the economy that a technology that has had so much promise, is now translating into true productivity and revenue gains.
As we navigate a year of uncertainty with changes in policies, and concerns over supply chain stability, we need to double down in areas like generative AI, with a clear strategy aligned to building more innovation, efficiency, competitiveness and resilience-building. Crucially, these investments must be underpinned with a conscious focus on how they can flourish over the long-term, ensuring that expenditure and resource stay aligned to continuous employee upskilling and a focus on how investments can continue to enhance sustainability and customer engagement.
