UK businesses are missing out on the full economic benefits of AI, with the majority still stuck in experimentation rather than real-world deployment.

This is according to RingCentral‘s new report “The New Economics of AI at Work: Why Britain Must Move from AI Pilots to AI Systems”, which is based on responses from 2,000 IT, HR, and CX leaders across the UK and US and explores how UK businesses are using AI.

Findings highlight a growing disconnect between optimism and execution for UK PLC, adding to a persistent productivity problem. While 87% of UK organisations view AI positively, only 16% have fully deployed AI-powered digital workers, significantly lagging behind US businesses (41%). More than half (54%) of UK organisations remain in research, exploration, or pilot stages.

Proven value from AI deployment

Despite this, the research shows UK organisations are proving value where AI is fully deployed, with 60% reporting productivity gains and 57% faster workflows.

The data also shows that once digital workers are truly embedded in workplaces, they are seen as augmentation to human roles, not replacement. Less than a quarter of workers who have fully deployed digital workers (23%) see job replacement as their biggest concern, compared to those who haven’t started exploring AI (45%).

The UK market is at a critical turning point, where early value is evident, but many organisations are still working out how to embed AI into core business processes and realise sustained, enterprise-wide benefits. Leaders say the main barriers they are having to tackle when scaling AI include cost concerns (35%), integration complexity (35%) and trust and compliance risks (32%).

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• Report: AI Agents Are Being Deployed Faster Than we Can Govern Them
• AI Agents Go Mainstream, But Fragmentation Is a Major Obstacle

“The next phase of AI is about embedding intelligence directly into the workflows where decisions are made. Despite strong investment and ambition, many UK organisations are failing to scale AI beyond isolated pilots, leaving benefits unrealised,” Russel Tilsed, VP at RingCentral, said.

“For the UK, the core issue is not technology capability, but integration. AI tools often sit outside everyday workflows, limiting their ability to drive real operational change. As a result, insights generated by AI frequently fail to translate into action. If the UK wants to seize this moment to address persistent productivity challenges, 2026 must be the year AI stops being an experiment and becomes enterprise infrastructure.”