UK businesses lead in AI adoption, outpacing global peers

New research from Snowflake indicates that 93% of UK businesses have achieved efficiency gains by adopting generative AI, surpassing the global average.

The "Radical ROI of Generative AI" research report, created in collaboration with Enterprise Strategy Group, surveyed 1,900 business and IT leaders across nine countries actively using generative AI for various applications. The report analyses the extent of success UK companies have had in integrating generative AI, the obstacles they encounter, and their plans for future AI investments.

UK organisations are primarily driven by efficiency and innovation, as 57% of early adopters in the UK cite efficiency as a key reason for adopting AI, compared to 51% in other countries.

The focus on innovation is strong, with 46% stating it as a central motivator and 89% witnessing enhanced innovation outcomes, compared to 84% globally.

James Hall, Vice President and Country Manager UK&I at Snowflake, commented, "UK businesses are demonstrating what it looks like to turn early adoption of gen AI into real, measurable value. They're not just experimenting — they're building with purpose. With smart investments in cloud infrastructure and a focus on actionable use cases, the UK is laying the groundwork to lead the next phase of gen AI transformation."

Generative AI is being employed across various sectors in the UK. In software engineering, 62% of UK respondents use these technologies for purposes such as code reviews and debugging, outperforming the 54% global average. Within customer support, 61% have integrated generative AI tools, leading to a reported 59% improvement in first response times. Cybersecurity is also benefiting, with 69% utilising AI in security operations and 64% experiencing reduced manual workloads.

UK businesses are also at the forefront of customising AI models, with 98% actively training, tuning, or modifying their large language models (LLMs), which indicates a strong drive to adapt AI outcomes to specific needs. Additionally, 47% of UK respondents say their LLMs are hosted primarily or entirely in the cloud—a percentage that ties with Germany but is above the global average, thus facilitating scalable and flexible business operations.

Despite the positive embrace of AI technologies, challenges remain particularly concerning the utilisation of unstructured data—where only 10% of UK businesses have achieved high capability, compared to 20% globally. Furthermore, 63% of UK respondents cited time-consuming data management procedures as a significant hurdle, higher than the global average of 55%.

The report indicates a significant opportunity for UK businesses to enhance data handling capabilities, potentially leading to more accurate and impactful AI applications. Snowflake's Cortex offerings aim to empower businesses by enabling the effective use of both structured and unstructured data through natural language prompts.

Anticipating further investment, 93% of UK organisations plan to increase spending on cloud-based data warehousing solutions within the next year, with nearly half asserting the importance of integrating LLMs and machine learning capabilities, compared to 39% globally.

James Hall concluded, "Looking ahead, the outlook is more optimistic with the UK set to build on its gen AI momentum with increased investment in data platforms and AI capabilities."

"As the UK Government continues to encourage the adoption of AI among businesses, these figures reflect the UK's ambition to embed AI deeply into its enterprise infrastructure and stay ahead in the global AI race."