- Snowflake research finds 93% of UK businesses report efficiency gains from GenAI
- Many are also tweaking LLMs for the best output
- Data and privacy concerns remain widespread, seperate EY report finds
Businesses are now getting to grips with AI and are implementing it with efficacy, marking a shift from the experimentation phase, with as many as 93% of UK businesses now reporting efficiency gains from generative AI (and 88% globally), new research from Snowflake has claimed.
Moreover, a staggering 98% are also training, tuning or augmenting their LLMs for better outcomes, demonstrating that companies know exactly where the tech’s benefits are and how to optimize it.
However, the usual hurdles and challenges remain in place, preventing some organizations from accessing the promised productivity benefits.
Businesses in the UK are pretty au fait with AI
Snowflake found nearly two-thirds (62%) of businesses are using AI in software engineering, with 69% using it for code reviews and debugging – both higher percentages than the global average.
AI technology is also proving popular in customer support (61%) and cybersecurity (69%) use cases, where workers are seeing faster first response times (59%), reduced manual workload (64%) and lower costs (56%).
Separate EY reporting reveals seven in 10 UK respondents have used AI in their daily lives in the past six months, but the findings conflict with Snowflake’s findings – only 44% have used it in a professional setting, lower than the global average of 67%.
Globally, EY says workers are using AI for writing or editing content (31%), learning about topics (30%) and generating new ideas (27%).
“They’re not just experimenting – they’re building with purpose,” Snowflake VP and UK&I Country Manager James Hall said about UK businesses.
“With smart investments in cloud infrastructure and a focus on actionable use cases, the UK is laying the groundwork to lead the next phase of gen AI transformation.”
The research also highlighted some of the challenges that businesses face when adopting AI at scale, with unstructured data presenting the biggest hurdle according to Snowflake.
EY added that privacy and security are also at the front of UK business leaders’ minds, with security breaches (71%), privacy violations (65%) and the reliability of AI outputs (67%) all cited as major concerns.
Looking ahead, EY UK&I AI Client Strategy Leader Catriona Campbell says that businesses must build worker confidence and demonstrate the value of AI.
“As AI continues to reshape our daily lives, it is crucial for business leaders to foster trust and transparency, empowering individuals to engage with AI on their own terms,” Campbell added.
