A new global survey from Freshworks, one of the world’s leading providers of AI-boosted business software, reveals that despite 65% of business leaders in the UK trusting AI to bring value to their workplace, more than a third (35%) feel that a lack of clarity around regulation is the biggest obstacle they face to adopting AI.
The new research of over 7,000 senior decision-makers and managers in 12 countries, including 2,500 from the UK, Germany, France and Netherlands, explores the sentiments, use and value of using AI-enhanced tools in the workplace.
Seeing the value, but slow to adopt
UK business leaders estimate that using AI helps reduce their workloads by three hours and seven minutes in an average working week, with 11% claiming AI saves them more than nine hours a week. Despite this, more than a third (37%) of UK business leaders admitted they currently have no plans to integrate AI into the workplace – with 8% even admitting they do not know if they currently used the tools.
According to senior decision-makers and managers across the UK, unclear AI regulation was the main obstacle holding them back from adopting AI tools, with the UK more concerned about regulatory clarity than any other region in the world. Business leaders in the UK were also the least likely to expect an instant return from AI, instead expecting a timeline of between one to two years before AI software would have enough business impact to prove its worth, suggesting UK business leaders expect a longer-term approach to AI tools.
Trust and adoption of AI
UK business leaders were also the most concerned about security and lack of testing with AI. Nonetheless, nearly two-thirds (65%) of respondents either completely or mostly trusted AI to bring value to the business and 70% said they would trust AI even more if a human review of its outputs was mandatory – echoing global sentiments. Despite concerns about AI bias, four in 10 (44%) business leaders in the UK actually trusted in AI’s ability to remove human bias.
Many uses for AI-enhanced tools
UK respondents shared that they mainly use AI-enhanced software applications for writing or creating content (43%), data analysis (39%) and researching/brainstorming (35%). Forty-four percent feel their work is easier to complete with AI enhanced tools with 42% suggesting they get more work done and over a third (37%) claiming they are excited to use the new technology.
Skills shortages and job concerns persist
Despite nearly half (49%) of business leaders and managers in the UK considering themselves knowledgeable or experts on AI – a lack of skills within teams was cited as one of the biggest obstacles to AI adoption by a fifth of respondents (23%).
Nearly half (46%) of UK business leaders fear that AI will end up replacing a large amount of the workforce in their field – a sentiment shared by global counterparts. Two-thirds (66%) admitted they are looking for ways to grow their AI skill set to stay as marketable as possible. Despite these concerns, respondents understand the value people bring to the workplace. The majority (70.5%) of UK respondents feel AI will never be able to completely replace human workers.
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