UK firms are adopting AI, but few are using it deeply
Written by Rebecca Uffindell Thu 23 Jul 2026
Artificial intelligence (AI) adoption among UK businesses has accelerated rapidly over the past three years, according to new Office for National Statistics (ONS) data.
The proportion of UK businesses with ten or more employees using at least one AI technology has risen from around 12% in late 2023 to 35% in June 2026. Larger organisations are significantly more likely to have adopted AI, while uptake continues to vary widely between sectors.
The same analysis suggests many organisations are still using AI in limited ways.
Only 10% of AI-adopting businesses report using AI extensively. The average number of AI technologies used by each adopting organisation has increased only modestly, from around 1.4 to 1.6 over the same period.
The findings point to a gap between AI adoption and deeper operational use.
AI Adoption is Rising, but Use Remains Shallow
Large language models are now the most widely used AI technology among businesses with 10 or more employees, with 18% reporting their use.
Adoption is highest in the information and communication sector, where 58% of businesses report using AI, compared with 13% in construction.
However, the ONS has concluded that AI use remains “relatively shallow”, with few organisations reporting extensive deployment across their operations.
Many businesses appear to be using AI for targeted tasks rather than embedding it across core processes.
Most Organisations Are Improving Existing Operations
The ONS found that the most common reason businesses use AI is to improve existing business operations, reported by almost three-fifths of organisations already using the technology.
That suggests AI is most often being used to support existing workflows rather than redesign products, services, or business models.
Daniel Meyer, Chief Technology Officer at Camunda, said many organisations are struggling to move beyond early use cases.
“There is a widening gap between the vision for AI and the reality inside most organisations,” said Meyer. “Companies are failing to realise AI’s potential because they cannot trust it to operate where it matters most. So AI stays at the edges of the business, completing admin tasks while critical processes that actually drive growth remain untouched.”
For Meyer, the issue is confidence in using AI within business-critical processes.
Trust Affects Where AI Can Be Used
Meyer argues that deeper AI adoption depends on changing the processes around the technology.
“Bolting AI onto processes designed for a world without it was never going to change the trajectory of a business,” he added. “The organisations pulling ahead are the ones re-engineering processes around AI, with the approvals and audit trails built in that make it safe to hand AI real authority.”
That places governance, auditability and operational trust alongside model performance.
As organisations consider higher-value use cases, the question becomes whether AI can be used safely in processes where errors, bias or lack of oversight carry greater consequences.
Visibility Limits Managed Adoption
The ONS also highlighted a disconnect between business reporting and employee behaviour.
While around 35% of businesses report using AI, more than half of employees say they use AI for work or education. That suggests some use may sit outside centrally managed initiatives.
Scott Pope, Director of Value Advisory at Nexthink, said a lack of visibility is slowing wider deployment.
“What holds leaders back is uncertainty,” he stated. “They cannot answer basic questions about how AI is being used across their organisation, whether it is safe, which tools are delivering results and which are quietly creating risk.”
Without that visibility, organisations may struggle to decide which use cases should be expanded and which require stronger controls.
Skills Remain a Constraint
The data also suggests workforce readiness is lagging behind technology adoption.
Only 11% of businesses with ten or more employees reported that more than half of their workforce had received AI-related training.
Businesses that identified a lack of AI expertise as a barrier were significantly more likely to be investing in training and retraining existing staff.
The findings indicate that deeper AI use depends on whether employees have the skills and confidence to apply the technology effectively.
Headcount Changes Remain Limited
Despite growing adoption, the labour market impact remains modest.
Among businesses using AI to improve operations, 63% reported no change in overall workforce headcount. Only 6% reported a reduction, while 1% reported an increase.
The data suggests AI is currently changing how work is carried out more often than it is changing the overall size of organisations.
Adoption Now Depends on Organisational Readiness
The latest ONS figures show that AI has moved into wider business use across the UK.
The next stage will depend on how effectively organisations manage the conditions around that use.
Trust, visibility, skills and process readiness will determine whether businesses can apply AI beyond isolated tasks and into the operations that carry greater value and risk.
Written by Rebecca Uffindell Thu 23 Jul 2026