Workday has published figures suggesting that AI could boost productivity for UK businesses by £119 billion. The announcement comes at a crucial time as the UK grapples with more than 15 years of sluggish productivity.
The report paints a picture of a country on the brink of a dramatic shift in its economic landscape: current productivity levels remain 24% lower than predicted before 2008, but efficiency gains from AI offer a ray of hope for businesses and policymakers alike.
Research has revealed that large UK businesses could save a staggering 7.9 billion employee hours per year through the strategic adoption of AI technologies.
When you break this down to an individual level, the numbers are just as impressive: business leaders could save 1,117 hours, or 140 working days, per year, while individual employees could reclaim 737 hours, or 92 working days.
“UK workplaces have not seen any significant productivity gains in over 15 years, but responsible AI has the potential to create a paradigm shift,” explains Daniel Pell, vice president and country manager for the UK and Ireland at Workday.
The report's findings come at a time when politicians are also considering the role of technology in governance.
Former Labour prime minister Tony Blair recently commented that while the UK faces economic challenges, advances in technologies such as AI mean “there has never been a better, or more exciting, time to govern”.
Despite the optimistic outlook, the road to AI adoption is not without obstacles: the report highlights that 93% of both employees and business leaders have concerns about trust in AI, underscoring the need for responsible AI strategies, comprehensive education and transparent communication initiatives.
Other barriers to AI adoption include concerns about safety, privacy and bias (38%), needing more time to train teams (34%) and lack of investment (32%). Additionally, the report cites disengaged employees (41%), lack of incentives (41%) and inadequate technology (35%) as the main factors impeding productivity in organizations.
The potential economic impact of AI is staggering. Research shows that an extra 2.9 hours of work per day equates to £11,058 in added value per year per average employee. With more than 10 million employees in large businesses across the UK, the cumulative impact could be £119 billion worth of productive work per year.
But the report also reveals a productivity paradox in today's workplace: Of any eight-hour workday, employees and business leaders are actually only productive for 5.8 and 5.9 hours, respectively, making more than a quarter of their day unproductive.
The benefits of AI go beyond just time savings: By taking over tedious, repetitive tasks, AI has the potential to free up employees to focus on more meaningful, impactful work. This shift could address one of the biggest barriers to productivity identified in the report: employee disengagement.
As UK businesses find themselves at the crossroads of an AI revolution, the report acts as both a wake-up call and a roadmap. It proposes a two-pronged approach to AI adoption: concrete analysis of potential efficiencies and transparent strategies to tackle barriers to adoption.
Realising the full potential of AI in the UK economy will require a concerted effort from businesses, policymakers and employees – the successful integration of AI technologies could determine the trajectory of the UK economy for years to come.
A complimentary copy of the Workday report can be found here: here (Registration required)
(Photo: Belinda Fewings)
reference: Tech executives confident in AI skills, but barriers to adoption remain
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