More than half of UK businesses say AI has created new jobs race for AI skills gets underway
More than half (54%) of UK businesses say AI has created new jobs, according to research from the Lloyds Business Barometer, as firms increasingly view AI adoption as central to growth, skills, and competitiveness.
Businesses step up investment in AI skills
58% of businesses say they plan to increase investment in AI to upskill their workforce in the coming year. Of those increasing investment, 42% expect to spend between £25,000 and £100,000, while 26% expect to spend between £100,000 and £250,000.
While 54% of businesses say their workforce has the AI skills needed, 31% say it does not. The top four responses given indicate that firms are seeing investment in skills it as a priority; 43% are looking to introduce AI skills training, 32% are expanding existing training, 24% are increasingly their focus on AI skills when hiring, and 21% are creating new AI-specific roles.
Nearly half of smaller businesses are using AI
Overall, 61% of firms say they currently use AI, with just under half (46%) of domestically focused businesses more likely to use the technology, compared to 63% of firms operating internationally.
The survey reported AI adoption among larger firms, with an average of 79% of businesses with a turnover above £10m saying they use AI. Nearly two-thirds of larger firms say their current workforce had the AI skills to meet business needs with 77% planning to increase investment in AI with the main driver to boost productivity (74%).
AI becoming essential for competitiveness
Nearly six in 10 firms say that businesses that fail to adopt AI will be at a competitive disadvantage. International firms were more likely to agree than domestic-only firms, at 61% compared with 46%, suggesting AI is increasingly being viewed as a competitive necessity.
Larger firms were more likely to see AI as essential for future success, with almost three-quarters (73%) of businesses with turnover of £10m or more say that failure to adopt AI will be at a competitive disadvantage, compared with 54% of businesses with turnover below £1m.
Barriers to AI adoption
The research also pointed to barriers that could slow adoption. Businesses cited costs (18%), data quality (17%) and access to skills (17%) as the main challenges to getting better value from AI. Domestic-only firms were more likely to point to cost as a barrier (23%), while international firms were more likely to reference data quality (19%).
Amanda Murphy, CEO of Lloyds Business and Commercial Banking, said: “AI has the potential to be as transformative for businesses as the internet was a generation ago. The businesses seeing the greatest benefit are treating it not simply as a technology investment, but as a catalyst for broader transformation across their organisation.
“Success will depend on more than access to technology. It will come from building the skills, culture and confidence to use it effectively. The businesses that can combine human ingenuity with the power of AI will create a meaningful advantage in productivity, innovation and growth.
“As adoption accelerates, the greatest challenge for many organisations may not be keeping pace with technology but ensuring they have the capabilities to adapt alongside it. Supporting businesses to navigate that transition will be critical if the UK is to fully capture the economic opportunity AI presents.”
Lloyds is scaling AI roles, tools and training
Lloyds is also investing in its own AI capability. In June, the Group announced plans for more than 1,000 AI-related roles in 2026, including almost 300 agentic AI-related roles and one of the first Level 6 AI Engineering apprenticeships by a UK bank. More than 400,000 AI Academy courses have been taken since January, with over 65,000 colleagues completing training on working responsibly with AI.