AI use among UK firms with five or more staff doubles to 32%, government survey finds

Nearly a third of UK businesses with five or more employees now use AI, according to the government's second AI Adoption Survey, published on Thursday. The figure stands at 32%, up from 16% in 2025.

Telephone interviews with 3,503 businesses took place between 7 January and 21 April. Large businesses, with 250 or more employees, were well ahead of the average at 52%. By sector, information and communication led on 61%, with business services and administration on 39%.

What firms are getting for it

Most of the reported gains so far are about how work gets done, not what it costs. Some 71% of businesses using AI reported better workforce productivity and 60% more efficient or flexible processes, while half of adopters reported an overall productivity rise, which was generally described as modest.

Operating costs have moved less. Among adopters, just 24% said they had fallen, 64% saw no immediate effect and 9% said they had gone up. Only 14% of adopters regarded AI as highly or critically important to their operations. Among businesses using or planning to use AI that could put a figure on it, 47% reported no AI spending at all in 2025.

Where spending goes next

Among businesses using or planning to use AI that gave an estimate, 65% anticipated an increase in AI-related budgets. Off-the-shelf applications top the list of planned investment, at 61% of businesses using or planning to use AI, ahead of task automation at 57% and embedding AI into existing systems at 54%.

Staff use should widen too. At present 22% of businesses using AI say more than half their staff use it, and 31% of those using or planning to use AI expect that to be the case within one to two years.

Skills are the main obstacle for those already involved, cited by 67% of adopters and 78% of planners. For businesses neither using nor planning to use AI, the most selected barrier was commercial: 65% said there was no clear business case or proven return.