Business & Industry
Future of AI 2026
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Agentic AI deployments and the elusive ROI
Agentic AI deployments in financial services are no longer theoretical; they’re becoming a board-level priority. Autonomous agents, multi-step orchestration and AI systems that don’t simply answer questions but execute work are rapidly moving from experimentation to implementation. Despite the momentum, ROI remains elusive. Deloitte’s latest State of AI report found that while 74% of organisations...
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Agentic commerce: The next major shift in digital trade
Agentic commerce is emerging as one of the most important shifts in digital trade since the rise of mobile commerce. At its core, agentic commerce refers to AI agents autonomously managing the purchase journey from discovery and comparison to payment and post-purchase support. Rather than simply recommending products, these systems can interpret user intent, evaluate...
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Why is it so hard to create value from AI?
Organisations globally are making unprecedented capital investments in artificial intelligence (AI), yet corporate leadership is increasingly asking a fundamental question: where is the return on investment? Despite significant investments, realised productivity gains consistently remain elusive. The explanation for this stagnation lies in a historical lesson that is routinely overlooked: we are treating AI as an...
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Why the UN’s new approach to AI could reshape global cooperation on governance
For most countries, the AI debate has happened elsewhere, influenced by a few governments and companies with the resources to shape it. The science, safety frameworks and rules: all developed largely without the countries that will be most affected. That’s the problem the UN is trying to address, and the structure of its response matters...
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Harnessing the power of AI to transform UK financial services
For consumers, AI can help enable increasingly hyper-personalised financial support, smarter budgeting tools and more accessible everyday services, helping people make money work better for them. Imagine a world where you can ask your AI assistant when your car insurance is due, and it will seek out quotes at the optimal time, securing you the...
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The next digital divide is not access to AI – it’s knowing what to do with it
Small firms are no longer watching AI from the sidelines. Across OECD countries, the share of small businesses using AI rose from 7% in 2023 to 17% in 20251 — more than doubling in two years. Medium-sized businesses show a similar pattern, rising from 14% to 30%2 over the same period. New AI tools based...
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AI will be foundational for other areas of deep tech innovation
The convergence of AI with other areas of deep tech innovation will be critical to unlocking new opportunities to grow the economy. In converging AI with other capabilities, including advanced connectivity, we must work together to establish a verifiable, resilient intelligent digital infrastructure critical to make the UK future-ready. The UK’s AI industry is on...
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The UK is evolving from an AI user to a global leader, with new infrastructure and innovation drives designed to secure our national digital future
During World War II, British breakthroughs at Bletchley Park helped secure the nation and the world. Now threats emerge in digital systems, data infrastructures and autonomous decision-making.As the only government outside the US given access to Anthropic’s Claude Mythos upon launch, it cements the UK’s credibility and international recognition of its role in AI safety and governance. From adopter to...