UK AI Adoption Triples but Barely Deepens
A new Office for National Statistics (ONS) survey covering 2023 to 2026 reveals a significant rise in AI adoption among UK businesses. The share of businesses using AI has increased from 12% to 35%, a nearly threefold growth. However, the average adopter is utilizing only 1.6 AI tools, indicating that while adoption has grown, the depth of integration remains limited.
Key Findings:
- Adoption Growth: The percentage of UK businesses with ten or more employees using AI has tripled, rising from 12% to 35%.
- Average Usage: Despite the increase in adoption, the average number of AI tools used per business has only slightly increased from 1.4 to 1.6.
- Sector Disparity: While information and communication industries lead with 58% AI adoption, other sectors, particularly accommodation and food services, lag significantly.
- Lack of Transformation: Scott Pope of Nexthink suggests that the gap between AI adoption and transformation is a cultural and visibility issue rather than a technological one. Only 4% of businesses using AI report it has reduced their headcount, and just 7% have an enterprise-wide AI strategy.
What Businesses Are Using:
- Large Language Models: The most widely deployed AI category (18%) among UK businesses in June 2026.
- Visual Content Creation Tools: Ranked second (16%).
- Data Processing with Machine Learning: Used by 12%.
- Image Processing: Adopted by 6%.
Pope highlights a visibility gap as the primary obstacle to AI transformation, stating that many leaders struggle with uncertainty and cannot provide answers to basic questions regarding AI usage, safety, and risk creation.