Artificial Intelligence Adoption Research

This report presents findings from research commissioned by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and It draws on a quantitative survey of 3,500 UK businesses, conducted via telephone interviews between February and May 2025, alongside 100 in-depth qualitative interviews.

The study examines the extent of AI adoption across UK businesses, the barriers influencing uptake, and the impacts on productivity, revenue, and workforce practices. Results show that adoption remains limited and uneven, with higher uptake among larger organisations and certain sectors. AI is most commonly used through off-the-shelf tools, particularly for language-based applications and administrative tasks.

While businesses report improvements in productivity and processes, financial impacts are less pronounced. Adoption is constrained by a combination of limited skills, unclear use cases, cost, and regulatory uncertainty, alongside concerns around ethics, data security, and reliability. Despite these challenges, many organisations view AI as strategically important and expect its use to grow, typically alongside continued human oversight.