UK Businesses Record Lowest AI Efficiency Gains Among Seven Markets, Infor Research Finds

UK businesses are achieving the lowest returns from artificial intelligence of any market surveyed, according to the second wave of Infor’s Enterprise AI Adoption Impact Index. The study polled more than 2,100 senior business leaders and AI decision-makers across Australia, France, Germany, Japan, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States.

UK organisations using AI reported an average efficiency gain of 23% over the past year, compared with 34% across the other six markets. Across all measures, the UK ranked last on three and second to last on eight more.

Confidence is also weakening. Some 53% of UK respondents said AI output requires human review, the highest of any market. Since April, confidence in deploying AI without disrupting operations has fallen from 75% to 66%, while comfort with autonomous agents handling processes has declined from 11.7% to 6.3%.

The results do not point to a lack of ambition. Half of UK businesses plan to increase AI investment over the next 12 months, with priorities centred on reducing time spent on routine tasks (39%), lowering operational costs (34%) and automating workflows (26%). However, 67% say generic, off-the-shelf AI does not meet the specific needs of their business or industry.

The research identifies three underlying barriers:

• Data readiness: Only 62% say their data is mature and well governed enough to support reliable AI, the second lowest of the seven markets. Nearly a quarter (24%) report higher integration costs from legacy or disconnected systems.
• Ownership: 14% report that no single person is accountable for AI governance, risk and compliance, well above the global average.
• Uncertainty: 28% cite compliance and regulatory concerns.

A divide is also evident by company size: 40% of small UK businesses have no AI deployment of any kind, compared with 9% of large businesses.

Mark Hughes, VP Sales & Country Manager UK & Ireland at Infor, said the findings reflect a cautious approach rather than a lack of capability. He called on businesses to adopt AI built around their own operations, supported by industry expertise and human oversight.

Infor said its industry-specific approach is designed to close this gap. Velocity Suite provides an agentic AI layer for manufacturing, distribution and service industries, while Industry AI Agents are now generally available across CloudSuite. Infor GRC adds AI governance, enabling agents to be registered, monitored and audited, with people remaining accountable for key decisions.