Ask most boards whether their organisation uses AI, and the answer is likely to be yes. Ask who is accountable for it, what value it has created, or how employees feel about its use, and the room may go quiet.
That silence tells us something important. AI adoption is not the same as AI transformation. The tools are available, and employees are already using them, but turning experimentation into sustained improvements in productivity, performance and value remains a challenge.
The latest Office for National Statistics data shows that the proportion of UK businesses with 10 or more employees reporting AI use has risen from around 12% in late 2023 to around 35% in June 2026. But adoption is uneven: it ranges from 58% in information and communication to 13% in construction. And among businesses using AI, only 10% say they use it extensively.
Expertise is one part of the challenge. Around 18% of businesses with 100 to 249 employees say insufficient expertise has delayed adoption. At the University of East London (UEL), we hear similar questions from employers: where should we invest? How do we equip our people? And how do we build trust?
But we risk asking the wrong question if we see this as a technical skills gap. At its heart, this is a leadership challenge. The question is not just how we equip people to use AI, but whether leaders are prepared to rethink how their organisations operate.
The greatest opportunity lies beyond introducing new tools. AI can help redesign services, remove duplication and give people more time for work that requires human judgement, creativity and care. Realising that potential means challenging familiar processes and deciding what better outcomes should look like.
So what should leaders do?
First, make AI a core leadership capability, not a technical specialism delegated to others. Boards need enough understanding to challenge suppliers, weigh investment and recognise risk. They should set clear outcomes, establish appropriate safeguards for data and accountability, and measure the value created – not simply the tools adopted.
Second, bring employees into the change. Concerns about job security, surveillance and changing roles deserve honest answers. Trust grows when leaders communicate clearly, listen to staff and involve them in decisions about how AI changes their work.
For London, the stakes are high. The capital’s competitiveness will depend in part on whether businesses can use AI to raise productivity and create growth that benefits more people. The Mayor’s AI and Jobs Taskforce has underlined that the choices employers, educators and government make will shape whether AI expands opportunity or deepens inequality. That calls for leadership across all three.
Universities can help build that capability: working with employers to develop leaders, connect research with practice and prepare people for changing roles. At UEL, our AI Leadership development units focus on strategy, organisational transformation and governance, helping leaders move from ambition to measurable impact.
Our partnership with Hexaware is exploring how AI can help redesign university operations, reduce duplication and free up resources for activities that create greater value. The same principle applies in business: technology can support transformation, but leaders must decide what needs to change and bring people with them.
London has talent, technology and ambition. The organisations that make the most of AI will not necessarily be those using the most tools. They will be the ones whose leaders ask what their organisation should do differently – and then have the courage to make it happen.
Explore the University of East London’s six-week online AI Apprenticeship Modular Units and register your interest: Find out more.