• Workers’ AI skills are a barrier to successful AI adoption
• Legacy infrastructure is also causing a problem
• Companies want clearer government guidance

British businesses are struggling to see returns from their AI investments due to the ongoing skills gap, new research has claimed.

Three in five (59%) companies in the UK and Ireland surveyed by NTT Data believe their employees lack the necessary skills for them to benefit from the transformative potential of AI.

However, workers may not be entirely at fault, with more than a quarter (27%) of UK&I organizations yet to establish expert generative AI teams, equating to 10% higher than the global average.

UK businesses are falling behind on AI

“As we move beyond experimentation, a tension emerges: move too fast, and we risk unintended circumstances; move too slow and we fall behind,” noted NTT DATA Group CEO Yutaka Sasaki.

Almost all (99%) of the organizations surveyed plan to further their GenAI investments, with hopes that the technology would have a material impact on things like productivity and efficiency, sustainability, compliance, business processes, security and employee experience.

Two-thirds (67%) of global respondents believe their employees lack the right skills to work with GenAI, and even more (72%) noted that they don’t have a GenAI usage policy for workers. Furthermore, companies are calling on governments to introduce clearer regulations on AI.

Limited perception of value, limited awareness, user resistance and concerns surrounding GenAI’s safety and security were highlighted as key obstacles to the technology’s adoption.

There are other hurdles beyond worker skills that are preventing companies from going head-first into AI, too. Nine in 10 said that legacy infrastructure hinders the effective use of AI, with most CIOs and CTOs acknowledging that cloud-based solutions are the most practical method to support such applications.

Sasaki added: “The future is clear. Generative AI is more than just another tool – it’s a transformative force.” However, as AI matures, it’s increasingly apparent that the right foundations are critical before companies can consider any form of investment.

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