UK businesses lead in AI adoption

New research reveals most UK businesses remain stuck with limited AI pilots and siloed systems, missing out on the biggest efficiency gains.

  • Friday, 16th May 2025 Posted 1 month ago in by Phil Alsop

New research from Workato reveals a striking gap between the UK businesses’ enthusiasm for AI and the reality of automation on-the-ground.

In a survey of UK IT decision-makers, just 14% say their organisations have achieved fully automated, AI-driven workflows across the business, while a majority (78%) report that AI is used only in a limited or experimental capacity, often isolated in certain teams or processes.

Key findings from Workato’s UK survey include:

Over half (57%) of UK enterprises are experimenting with AI in automation, but have yet to scale beyond pilot projects

Just 23% have made AI core to their automation orchestration strategy, with the majority experimenting or limiting AI use

42% describe their automation as “siloed” and not fully integrated across the business

Predictive analytics (32%) and real-time data integration (22%) are the most transformative AI capabilities, but remain far from universally adopted.

Barriers to AI adoption remain significant: governance (30%), privacy risks (24%) and security (10%) top the list.

Why it matters:

UK businesses are ahead of international counterparts in the US and Europe when it comes to AI adoption, with 93% of British CEOs saying their business has adopted AI in some capacity already and over half planning to increase investment in AI, generative AI, cloud, and data analytics in the coming year (PwC, 2024). However, despite strong AI ambition, the UK risks leaving millions on the table by focusing on small-scale and limited implementations and not missing out on enterprise orchestration opportunities. With the average British business now running 70+ apps on average, and 89% adopting multi-cloud environments, connecting systems and scaling automation are critical to success.

“UK enterprises are racing ahead in AI adoption, but our survey reveals that most enterprises are stuck in the slow lane when it comes to automating at scale and realising measurable and meaningful business impact,” said Mike Kiersey, VP Global Solution Consulting, Workato. “Digital transformation has left organisations in a mess of SaaS sprawl. But if British businesses can channel AI enthusiasm in the right direction of enterprise orchestration – removing complex workflows, automating critical data flows and connecting disparate systems – the full promise of AI can come to life, easing complexity and shaving millions off their bottom lines.”  

Over 40% of agentic AI projects will be cancelled by the end of 2027, due to escalating costs, unclear business value or inadequate risk controls,...

AI use is outpacing policy and governance, ISACA finds

Posted 23 hours ago by Phil Alsop
The majority (83%) of IT and business professionals in Europe believe employees in their organisation are using AI.

AI and offshore outsourcing on the rise

Posted 1 day ago by Phil Alsop
Whitelane Research, an independent organisation specialising in IT sourcing research across Europe, has released its 2025 IT Sourcing Study for the...
55% report cloud environments are more complex to secure than on-premises infrastructure.
As demand for data-driven insights increases, data overload could render UK businesses operationally ineffective.

AI use is outpacing policy and governance

Posted 5 days ago by Phil Alsop
The majority (83%) of IT and business professionals in Europe believe employees in their organisation are using AI.

Fierce competition in global AI leadership

Posted 5 days ago by Phil Alsop
More than four out of five of CEOs and IT executives surveyed are driving AI growth for their companies.
Distributor looks to the future and shares channel growth and transformation drivers as it celebrates its 40th birthday.