Kir Nuthi
Head of AI and Data Policy, techUK
Different industries require different digital and AI skills. Therefore, the AI readiness gap needs nuance across the UK.
Government research1 found that 43% of information and communication firms have adopted AI, compared to 12% in construction. Yet, in engineering and manufacturing, under 0.2% of job adverts last year referenced AI meaningfully. Same technology, three different sectors, three different baselines for adoption and for whether the skills exist to diffuse it.
Adoption teaches through experimentation
For many workers, their first experiences with AI would have counted as ‘shadow use’ (experimenting on personal accounts) or through the AI-enabled updates of tools they previously used. From the office suite to task management applications and customer databases, those tools are already upgraded by AI and tailored to the sectors that adopt them.
What workers need to upskill on is often dependent on the sector’s needs and tools. Any focus on AI literacy must be modular and flexible across regions and sectors to match the pace of deployment.
Sector and region, not either/or
Because adoption varies by industry and place, a purely regional or sectoral approach to AI literacy only does half the job. The story is often of advanced manufacturing in Manchester, biotechnology in Cambridge and the creative economy in Edinburgh. Programmes in those places need local specialisms in mind. Moreover, skills are only one building block, sitting alongside data access, investment, infrastructure and pro-innovation regulation. This is why techUK treats literacy as an adoption variable.
Better utilisation of existing tech resources
techUK is proud to join the Government and industry-led AI Skills Partnership, which has ambitions to provide 10 million workers with key AI skills by 2030, equivalent to a third of the UK workforce. We have consistently called for better use of existing resources and training programmes to develop AI skills in the workforce.
Businesses already offer a variety of online and in-person training, from basic digital skills to courses on the latest technological developments. We want to ensure everyone has the skills needed to use AI confidently and responsibly, and there’s much more we can do together.
[1] gov.uk. 2026. AI Adoption Research. https://tinyurl.com/bdhsfwyy.
