The CBI AI adoption report, published on 18 August 2026, calls on the Government to treat the rollout of artificial intelligence (AI) as a national economic priority and make the next decade Britain’s ‘adoption decade’. The report, produced jointly by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and Oliver Wyman, warns that companies stuck in ‘pilot mode’ risk being left behind as competitors accelerate.
AI stands for artificial intelligence: software systems that can perform tasks normally requiring human judgement, such as analysing data, generating text or spotting patterns. The CBI’s concern is not that Britain lacks AI tools, but that too few organisations are deploying them at scale.
The CBI AI adoption report and the ‘execution divide’
At the heart of the report is what the CBI and Oliver Wyman call a growing ‘execution divide’. On one side are businesses that have moved AI from small-scale experiments into their broader operations. On the other are those still running limited trials without taking the next step.
The gap has real consequences for performance. According to research by Oliver Wyman Forum and the New York Stock Exchange, almost half (49%) of firms leading the way in AI report meeting or surpassing their expected return on investment, compared with just 15% of those lagging behind in rolling out the technology.
Rain Newton-Smith, CBI chief executive, said: ‘The next chapter of AI won’t just be defined by what we invent, but by how quickly we can put it to work at scale. Britain now needs to treat AI adoption as a national economic priority.’ She added that government and business should set a shared ambition to make the UK the best place in the world to adopt AI responsibly, ‘and then relentlessly focus on delivery’.
What the CBI wants government to do
The CBI’s call to action includes several concrete proposals. It wants the Government to establish a business AI adoption delivery group and publish a voluntary responsible AI adoption code, alongside a public pledge that businesses can sign up to. The report also calls for investment in AI skills at every level of the workforce, the development of a national AI literacy standard, and clearer, easier-to-navigate regulation around the technology.
Newton-Smith framed the potential upside in straightforward terms: ‘If we get this right, the prize won’t be measured in technology alone. It will be measured in better jobs, rising wages, stronger businesses and higher living standards.’
The CBI’s broader plea is for government to work alongside business, workers and civil society to accelerate adoption, build public confidence, and ensure AI delivers ‘better jobs, higher living standards and stronger growth in every part of the country’.
Government response and the skills commitment
Kanishka Narayan, the UK’s first AI minister, described the CBI’s report as a ‘welcome contribution’ to the debate on how to realise AI’s full potential. He said the Government is ‘committed to making the UK the leading adopter of AI in the G7’, adding that it is working with industry to give 10 million workers AI skills by 2030 and has committed more than £200 million to support workers and businesses in adopting the technology.
Professor Simon Johnson, chair of the UK’s AI Economics Institute, offered a more measured assessment when speaking to BBC’s Newsnight. He acknowledged that AI is ‘arriving fast’ but said companies are ‘exaggerating’ the speed of change, partly to attract and impress investors. ‘We have time if we act now to prepare and to build a stronger, more resilient economy with more good jobs,’ he said, ‘the key thing is to avoid getting run over by AI.’
Where UK businesses actually stand
Separate research from Lloyds Banking Group, based on a survey of 1,200 UK businesses, adds texture to the picture. More than half (58%) of firms believe AI has already created jobs within their organisations. At the same time, almost a third (31%) say their workforce does not yet have the skills needed to make the most of those tools.
On current usage, 61% of firms say they use AI in some form. Internationally focused businesses are more likely to have adopted it (63%) than those serving mainly domestic markets (46%), suggesting that competitive exposure abroad is already pushing adoption faster.
The Government’s stated target of skilling up 10 million workers by 2030 now stands as one concrete measure against which progress on the CBI’s ‘adoption decade’ ambition can be judged.
