A new survey reveals UK executives' growing trust in AI for operational resilience, highlighting rapid adoption and ongoing challenges in quality assurance, workforce skills, and governance.
The adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) within UK businesses is progressing at a remarkable pace, with executives now placing significant trust in AI technologies to manage critical situations. According to the latest findings from PagerDuty’s AI Resilience Survey, a striking 88% of UK business leaders would confidently entrust AI agents to take action on their behalf during crises such as outages or security incidents. This level of trust exceeds the global average of 81%, highlighting the country’s rapid embrace of AI operationally.
The survey, which polled 250 UK executives, reveals that AI has evolved far beyond experimental pilots to become mission-critical infrastructure for many organisations. Over three-quarters (76%) of respondents view AI as essential to their company’s function, with widespread integration into daily business activities like coding. In fact, 85% of UK organisations now utilise AI to write, review, or suggest code, reflecting the technology’s mainstream adoption.
This growing confidence is underpinned by perceptions of maturity and reliability in AI outputs. The data shows that 78% of UK execs trust AI-generated outputs more than they did just a year ago, with over half (54%) highlighting improved quality. Furthermore, understanding of AI’s workings has improved for many leaders, with 52% reporting better comprehension, alongside benchmarking their AI use against other teams or companies.
However, this enthusiasm does not come without a measure of caution. Despite the high levels of trust, nearly two in five executives (38%) admit that recent news regarding AI models or regulatory developments has diminished their confidence somewhat. Additionally, 27% express concern over the lack of transparency in AI decision-making processes, and 35% worry about the proliferation of low-cost, lower-quality AI models potentially undermining standards.
A particular area requiring attention is the quality assurance of AI-generated code. While 88% of UK companies conduct some form of testing on AI-created code, fewer than half (47%) implement formal and consistent testing processes. This marks a notable lag behind the US, where 59% follow more rigorous standards, though the UK remains well ahead of countries like Japan, at 19%.
The wider context of AI adoption in the UK presents a nuanced picture. While the technology is enthusiastically embraced among business leaders, challenges remain in sectors such as financial services, where a report by ActiveOps shows that 58% of firms are still at the early stages of AI adoption despite recognising its potential to improve operational performance. Moreover, contrasting data from KPMG’s global survey reflects a broader ambivalence among the public and workforce, with only 46% of UK respondents expressing trust in AI systems, influenced by concerns around job security, misinformation, and cyber risks.
The tech skills gap further complicates the landscape, as revealed by research from Gigged.AI. Over 90% of UK tech leaders report shortages in skilled personnel, leading more than half (51%) to consider generative AI as a partial solution, even as ethical questions about workforce replacement loom large. Meanwhile, a disconnect between leaders' confidence and employee preparedness persists, with Corndel’s report highlighting that while nearly 90% of HR leaders are optimistic about guiding AI adoption, only 60% believe current training equips staff adequately for digital transformation.
Employee experience surveys underscore the need for clearer AI strategies and leadership visibility. With just 24% of UK workers believing their CEOs have a clear AI or automation strategy, support for AI skill development remains limited, with fewer than a third of leaders actively encouraging AI use or providing relevant training.
Eduardo Crespo, VP of the EMEA region at PagerDuty, summarises the evolving landscape: “UK leaders are placing a higher-than-average level of trust in AI agents to take action during outages or security incidents, which signals a swift move from AI experimentation to operational reliance. But trust doesn’t mean blind faith. The businesses leading in AI adoption balance confidence with caution, building governance around their AI use while harnessing the speed, scale and resilience AI unlocks.”
The UK is clearly forging ahead as a hub for responsible AI innovation, blending enthusiasm for the technology’s transformational potential with pragmatic governance and growing expertise. This careful navigation of opportunity and risk will be vital to solidifying the UK’s position as a global AI leader while ensuring that ethical considerations and workforce readiness keep pace with rapid technological change.
Source: Noah Wire Services
