Why AI, why now?

It saves real time

• In a UK government trial, 20,000 civil servants using an AI assistant reported saving an average of 26 minutes a day, about 13 working days a year each. Over 70% said it cut time spent searching for information and on routine tasks, and 82% didn’t want to go back. (Government Digital Service, 2025; self-reported)
• Customer support agents using an AI assistant resolved 14% more issues per hour. Newer staff improved by 34%, as AI helped spread the know-how of the best performers. (Brynjolfsson, Li & Raymond, NBER)
• In a Harvard Business School study with Boston Consulting Group, staff using AI completed 12% more tasks, 25% faster, at 40% higher quality on tasks suited to AI.

Productivity gains are real, and growing

• Productivity growth is around 40% higher in the companies most exposed to AI. (PwC Global AI Jobs Barometer, 2026)
• About three-quarters of UK businesses using AI report improved workforce productivity. (DSIT AI Adoption Research, 2026)
• AI use among UK businesses with 10+ staff rose from 25% to 35% in a year. (ONS, 2026)

But using AI isn’t the same as benefiting from it

• 88% of companies now use AI somewhere, but only about a third have scaled it beyond experiments. (McKinsey, 2025)
• Companies that integrate AI into their operations saw 34% productivity growth, against 24% for those that couldn’t. (PwC, 2026)
• 95% of IT leaders say integration is a barrier to using AI effectively. (MuleSoft, 2025; vendor survey)
• In the Harvard/BCG study, people using AI on tasks outside its strengths did worse than those without it, which is why checks and oversight matter.

Replacing old systems is risky too

• In one UK survey of IT and risk leaders, 77% said they’d gone over budget on modernisation, and about two-thirds had paused, scaled back or abandoned a project. (IT Brief UK, December 2025; survey sponsor not named)
• That’s why we connect before we replace.