New research from Esendex exposes a significant and growing divide in the UK’s readiness for the AI and automation revolution. The Automation & AI Readiness Index reveals stark disparities between industries, not only in technology adoption but critically, in the availability of skilled workers and training needed to implement and sustain these innovations.

The UK is rapidly embracing artificial intelligence and automation.

As of mid-2025, 39% of UK businesses use AI in some capacity, with another 31% considering implementation.

Globally, AI tool usage surged from 15% in 2022 to 78% in 2025. An estimated seven million UK workers now use generative AI daily. However, only 14% of UK businesses have achieved fully automated, AI-driven workflows across their organisations, despite 57% experimenting with AI in automation.

This trend fuels a booming market: the UK process automation market reached $6.72 billion last year, projected to grow over 80% to $12.15 billion by 2034. The UK AI market alone, currently valued at over £21 billion, is forecast to explode to £1 trillion by 2035.

Yet, this technological acceleration is outpacing workforce readiness.

Research from Essendex indicates half of all employees will require significant reskilling due to automation. Recognising this urgency, the UK government recently launched a £187 million national skills drive to bring digital skills into schools and upskill 7.5 million workers with essential AI skills.

The Automation & AI Readiness Index: Measuring the Divide
To pinpoint preparedness, Esendex analysed over 10,600 job listings and 11,400 training courses across 17 industries using Reed data. Each sector was scored out of 1,600 based on two core areas:

• Job Demand (Out of 1,200): Demand for automation and AI-specific roles.

• Training Availability (Out of 400): Availability of relevant training courses.

Employment data from the ONS (2022-2025) was also incorporated. The results highlight leaders, laggards, and significant skills gaps.

Leaders: Frontrunners with Challenges

1. IT & Telecoms (Overall Score: 777.9): Dominating the index, its score more than doubles the next sector. High AI adoption (nearly 90% of companies) drives strong AI job demand (score: 498/800), with roles like ‘data engineer’ and ‘python engineer’ making up 52% of listings. However, training availability is critically low (54.3/200), and automation job demand (251.8) and training (28.1) lag significantly. Vacancies also plummeted 55.1% (2022-2025), signalling potential hiring bottlenecks.

2. Engineering (Overall Score: 368.7): Shows strong automation focus (Automation Index: 245.8 vs AI Index: 121.9). Automation job demand (215) significantly outpaces AI (89.2). While 97% of firms use AI/Machine Learning, dedicated AI talent focus is low. Crucially, only 30% of training provisions were for automation, despite high demand, indicating a misalignment.

3. Financial Services (Overall Score: 58.3): Ranks third but scores are significantly lower than the top two. Focus is on automation (Index: 36.2 vs AI: 22.0), driven by higher job demand (20.8 vs 4.0). Training leans heavily towards AI (70% of courses) despite automation job demand, creating a mismatch. While 82% of CFOs increased digital investment in 2024, 49% of finance departments still operate with zero automation. Vacancies fell 32.7% (2022-2025), though workforce grew 7.6%. The sector excels in multi-channel customer service.

Mixed Performers & Strategic Moves

• Marketing & PR (Overall Score: 50.3): Shows balanced investment in AI and automation, with a relatively strong training score (30.3), indicating proactive upskilling.

• Banking (Overall Score: 47.6): Heavily focused on AI (Index: 32.8 vs Automation: 14.7). AI roles make up 80% of skilled openings, and 80% of training is AI-focused. However, overall training availability is very low (score: 3.6), raising concerns. 75% of banks already use AI.

• Education (Overall Score: 45.3): Stands out for future-proofing, boasting the highest training availability score (43.7), particularly in AI (23.8). However, very low job demand (1.6) suggests a shortage of digitally skilled educators hinders implementation.

Laggards: Facing Significant Gaps

1. Construction & Property (Overall Score: 6.0): Ranked last. Job demand is minimal (1.5/1200), with slightly more demand for automation (0.8) than AI (0.3). Training availability is also low (4.9/400). This low investment occurs despite the global AI in construction market projected to grow from $1.8B (2023) to $12.1B (2030). Vacancies dropped 40% (2022-2025).

2. Retail (Overall Score: 10.4): Second lowest. Shows minimal adoption (Automation Index: 5.9, AI Index: 4.5). AI roles account for 75% of skilled positions analysed, but training is severely limited. This contrasts sharply with the global retail automation market projected to surge from $31.77B (2025) to $71.91B (2034).

3. Manufacturing (Overall Score: 46.2 – Ranks 6th but AI Score: 0.1): A stark example of imbalance. It ranks among the top 3 for automation focus (Index: 46.1) but has near-zero AI readiness (Index: 0.1). Automation roles make up 99.4% of jobs, but training availability is very low (8.2). Vacancies dropped 48.4% (2022-2025).

Richard Hanscott, CEO of Esendex, said: “The UK’s digital economy is rapidly accelerating and seemingly at a faster rate than the workforce can keep up with. As demand for automation and AI integration rises sharply, most industries simply aren’t moving quickly enough to futureproof their teams and implement the infrastructure necessary.

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“The findings from our ‘Automation & AI Readiness Report’ make this even more evident, with a clear divide emerging. While a handful of sectors are making bold moves toward digital capability, the majority, particularly labour-intensive sectors, are at risk of being left behind. This isn’t down to a lack of ambition, but a severe lack of readiness, investment, and skills planning.

“The real threat isn’t just lost productivity, but of being outpaced by competitors who are already automating smarter, communicating faster, and scaling more efficiently. With solutions like automated SMS software helping to shape the way firms engage customers, the opportunity is clear. But if UK businesses don’t bridge the skills gap now, they may find themselves stuck on legacy systems while their competitors race ahead.”