- More UK CEOs have adopted AI than other countries
- UK businesses will be more likely to invest in AI this year
- The results are even less clear among British companies
New research from PwC has found that UK executives are more willing to use artificial intelligence than their global counterparts, with 93% of UK CEOs saying their business has adopted AI, compared to 83% globally.
Opinion towards the technology has grown significantly in recent years, with just 42% of UK CEOs adopting AI as of January 2024, an increase of more than doubling in the space of 12 months.
Executives are also increasingly seeing the positive effects of AI on their business, with more than half (56%) of CEOs globally noticing an improvement in the effectiveness of their employees.
UK CEOs embrace AI
The recent increase in adoption of AI tools by UK businesses, however, may be causing a lag in results. Fewer UK CEOs have seen improvements in employee efficiency (53%) and only 40% report better time management, compared to 53% globally.
Additionally, only 14% see profitability gains from generative AI, compared to 34% globally.
However, optimism remains with more than half (55%) planning to invest in artificial intelligence, generative AI, cloud and data analytics in the next year. In fact, Britain ranks ahead of the United States (48%), France (54%) and Germany (35%).
Marco Amitrano, Senior Partner at PwC UK, commented: “UK businesses have started to move beyond the initial hype of GenAI to the reality of how it works, but this should not detract from its huge latent potential. . The fact that more than a third of business leaders expect to see financial gains from GenAI in the next year is very significant, if not encouraging.
However, some obstacles remain, such as the skills gap seen by almost half (47%) of UK CEOs as a major challenge.
Umang Paw, technical director at PwC UK, said UK CEOs should continue to develop their AI knowledge and skills to realize the untapped potential of AI in their businesses.
