To do this, we leveraged AI-driven audience profiling to synthesise insights from online opinions over a year ending March 10, 2025, to a high statistical confidence level. These opinions gave us insight into what 73,650 business leaders in the UK think about AI, how they’re currently using it, what they plan to use it for in the future, and other valuable viewpoints.
This is what we discovered:
- 36% UK business leaders use AI in marketing operations
- 45% business leaders struggle with AI technology adoption
- Innovation potential the driving force behind 88% AI solution investments
- 75% UK businesses already have or are considering implementing chatbots
- 28% business leaders want to see improvements in advanced collaboration tools
- 73% use improved efficiency to benchmark AI’s impact
- 42% business leaders concerned about training and skills gaps inhabiting AI adoption
- AI to impact marketing for 26% UK business leaders in the next 5 years
- Conferences keep 66% UK business leaders informed about AI
- 17% business leaders operate their business from Glasgow
- Methodology
How Is AI Currently Used In Your Business Operations?
36% UK business leaders use AI in marketing operations
AI is being used in various ways, and these are the most prevalent:
The Office for National Statistics reports that around one in six UK organisations use at least one AI technology in the workplace. Of those businesses, 70% use AI to improve cybersecurity and create efficiencies.
However, of our audience currently using AI, 36% use it for marketing operations, while 26% utilise it for automation. Both these uses contribute to streamlining efficiency, which correlates somewhat with the ONS results.
Our statistics also show that 23% of UK business leaders use AI in product development, while 14% use it for data analysis.
Yet, despite AI reports revealing that organisations utilising AI in risk analytics benefit from a 60% boost in risk detection skills, only 2% of our audience use it for risk management and 1% for predictive analytics. Overall, the statistics highlight the fact that although the biggest use cases align with the ONS report as they create efficiencies, our audience is far more focused on using AI to improve processes rather than secure IT systems.
What Are The Biggest Challenges You Face When Implementing AI?
45% business leaders struggle with AI technology adoption
The adoption of AI in the workplace poses some challenges:
Nearly half (45%) of 73,650 business leaders in the UK agree that technology adoption is the biggest challenge when implementing AI, while 29% cite data privacy as theirs. Research from Microsoft UK Services Partner of the Year, ANS, and YouGov reveal similar findings, with lack of expertise being the biggest barrier.
This lack can slow down technology adoption in big and small businesses alike, with big businesses also expressing similar concerns about the challenge of protecting private data.
Employee training is far less of a challenge for 9% of our audience, followed by ethical considerations (6%), integration and cost challenges, both garnering 5% engagement. It’s interesting to note that cost among our audience ranks so low, as in the aforementioned study, it was the second biggest challenge faced by 30% of all UK businesses. This shows that the challenges are myriad, and different businesses face varying hurdles depending on their size, industry, and other factors.
What Factors Influence Your Decision To Invest In AI-Powered Solutions?
Innovation potential the driving force behind 88% AI solution investments
While one main factor is evident, there are a few others influencing the investment in AI in business:
It’s clear that the vast majority (88%) of our audience is influenced by AI's innovation potential.
This sentiment reflects broader market trends as Statista estimated the AI market will exceed £4.5 billion in 2024, highlighting how rapidly the technology is gaining traction and investment.
In contrast, just 6% were influenced by AI’s potential in data security, 4% by its competitive advantage, 2% by the ease of integration, and 2% by its cost-effectiveness. This suggests that innovation is the primary driver behind AI interest, and it far outweighs practical benefits like security, cost, or integration. This aligns with our previous findings, which determined how our audience already uses AI to improve processes, productivity, and products.
What Types Of AI-Driven Automation Have You Implemented Or Are Considering Implementing?
75% UK businesses already have or are considering implementing chatbots
Many UK businesses have implemented or will implement AI-driven automation. These are the types of AI that are the most common:
Chatbots were one of the original and most widespread uses of AI in business, and they began gaining traction in the early 2010s. Today, they continue to play a major role in business operations, with almost 1.5 million people having had at least one conversation with a chatbot within the past year. It’s unsurprising then, that 75% of our audience have implemented, or are planning to implement, the use of chatbots in their business.
Other implementations are relatively evenly split, with 10% using AI-driven automation for data analysis. 7% for customer service and 6% for predictive analytics. This jump shows that chatbots are still far ahead and that the adoption of AI-driven automation for other uses has a long way to go before we catch up.
What Improvements Or Innovations Would You Like To See In AI for Business Transformation?
28% business leaders want to see improvements in advanced collaboration tools
Business leaders are looking for a few core improvements and innovations in AI:
With more than 20% of British companies intending to increase their spending on artificial intelligence (AI) and automation in the next year, it’s evident businesses are prioritising digital transformation to stay competitive and future-ready. But this doesn’t mean there isn't room for improvement, and our audience is largely looking for three main areas of innovation.
28% would like to see improvements or innovations in advanced collaboration tools, 27% in data analytics, and the same number in automation improvements. Considering data analytics has ranked quite low in other areas for engagement, it suggests that business leaders see its potential but want more from it.
Just 14% want improvements or innovations in process optimisation before engagement levels plummet to just 2% for a focus on innovations, 1% for predictive modelling, and the same percentage for a reduction in costs.
This suggests that while core technologies like AI and automation are gaining traction, business leaders are most engaged by tools that directly enhance productivity and decision-making. Interest drops sharply for more niche or back-end innovations, indicating a strong preference for solutions that deliver visible, day-to-day impact over technical sophistication or cost-cutting alone.
How Do You Assess The Effectiveness Of AI Tools In Your Business?
73% use improved efficiency to benchmark AI’s impact
Business leaders in the UK use various benchmarks to assess the efficiency of AI:
A PWC study revealed that AI is expected to improve employee productivity by 40% and that sectors more exposed to AI are experiencing a fivefold increase in productivity growth on a global scale. Our audience is already experiencing the benefits, and they predominantly measure the effectiveness of the AI tools they use in the business by how much they improve efficiency (73%).
This improved efficiency boosts productivity and profits and also has the potential to enhance the UK economy, wages, and living standards.
In comparison, just 10% assess AI’s effectiveness by how much it improves satisfaction, 8% by improved ROI, 6% by improved performance, and 4% by cost savings. This again highlights how much AI is boosting efficiency and how many business leaders across the UK are capitalising on this.
What Concerns Do You Have Regarding AI Adoption In Your Industry?
42% business leaders concerned about training and skills gaps inhabiting AI adoption:
For 42% of our audience of UK business leaders, the training and skills gap is the biggest concern regarding the adoption of AI in their industry. This is followed by 33% concerned about data privacy and 23% about technology integration challenges, which can circle back to the training and skills gap.
These concerns are not isolated. The UK Government has also faced numerous challenges regarding the adoption of AI, including skills shortages, data quality, and cultural resistance. However, to mitigate this, plans are in place to compete with global AI powerhouses to create over 13,000 jobs and transform public services.
While there are other concerns about adoption, they register very minimal engagement, with just 1% concerned about regulatory compliance and implementation cost. These two concerns tie in with data privacy and technology integration challenges, which is perhaps why they garnered such minimal engagement.
Which Areas Of Your Business Do You Think AI Will Impact The Most In The Next 5 Years?
AI to impact marketing for 26% UK business leaders in the next 5 years
Leaders are expecting AI to impact a few different areas of their business in the next few years:
At 26%, marketing is the business area that the highest number of leaders think will be impacted by AI in the next five years. Considering that in 2024, 65% of UK marketers said they used AI within their experimentation approach, this expectation aligns with the use of this technology. Product development (22%) follows quite closely behind, followed by operations (17%). This indicates that the adoption of AI will vary depending on the industry and its core needs.
The use of AI in customer service (13%) attracted lower engagement rates, which can be expected due to the already-high adoption of chatbots. Sales also attracted 13% of engagement, while data analysis came in last, at just 8%, closely aligning with the 10% of our audience who say they already have, or plan to implement this type of AI technology.
How Do You Stay Informed About The Latest AI Trends And Technologies?
Conferences keep 66% UK business leaders informed about AI
AI may be making regular news headlines, but our audience hears about trends and technologies from numerous sources:
Out of 73,650 business leaders in the UK, 66% say that they hear about the latest trends and AI technologies at conferences. When you consider that in 2024, the value of the UK events industry was £61.65 billion, it’s easy to see why so many leaders learn about new developments at these events. They’re not only prolific, they’re valuable information sources, too.
49% behind were podcasts, responsible for 17% finding out about trends and technological advancements, while networking events garnered 8% engagement and industry reports 7%. Despite AI being largely web-focused, webinars were only responsible for 1% of information sharing, while online courses barely registered at 0.5%. These low engagement figures indicate that, for leaders, face-to-face interactions with other leaders and organisations are where they learn the most about this technology.
Where In The UK Does Your Business Operate?
17% business leaders operate their business from Glasgow
From Glasgow to Cardiff, our audience is spread out across the UK:
Our 73,650 business leaders had a relatively even distribution across the UK, with the highest number (17%) operating from Glasgow and the lowest (2%) from Cardiff. The statistics showed a gradual decline, with the biggest jump between Sheffield and London (both 8%) and Cardiff’s 2%.
While the so-called golden triangle of London, Oxford, and Cambridge are popular places for artificial intelligence startups, our audience was profiled for using AI in business, not for being an AI business specifically. This may have contributed to the even spread across the major cities in the UK. Still, it is interesting to see how London, despite being home to around 983,000 businesses, is far behind Glasgow, which only has 48,000. This suggests that AI adoption in business is not confined to traditional business hubs, with cities like Glasgow emerging as unexpected leaders in practical AI use.
Overall, it's evident that AI is playing a pivotal role in how UK leaders approach innovation, efficiency, and future growth. While challenges such as adoption and skills gaps persist, there’s a strong appetite for harnessing AI’s full potential across key areas like marketing, product development, and automation. As businesses continue to learn, adapt, and implement, AI looks set to remain at the forefront of transformation for years to come.
Methodology
The online opinions used in this article were sourced from an independent sample of 73,650 business leaders in the UK from X, Quora, Linkedin, Reddit, Bluesky, TikTok and Threads. Responses are collected within a 65% confidence interval and 8% margin of error. Engagement estimates how many people in the location are participating.
Demographics are determined using many features, including name, location and self-disclosed description. Privacy is preserved using k-anonymity and differential privacy. Results are based on what people describe online — questions were not posed to the people in the sample.
About the representative sample:
- 70% of UK business leaders are over the age of 45 years old.
- 52% identify as male.
