AI use in UK hits 'tipping point' as companies scale up, Google exec says

By Sam Tabahriti

LONDON, June 17 (Reuters) - Adoption of artificial intelligence has reached a "tipping point" in Britain, as companies move from experimentation to large-scale deployment and start seeing returns, a Google Cloud executive said on Wednesday.

Businesses and government bodies that were testing AI tools a year ago are now using them to run more complex processes and improve productivity, Maureen Costello, Google Cloud's vice president for the United Kingdom, Ireland and Sub-Saharan Africa, told Reuters in an interview.

"Industry is on the cusp of a tipping point where AI adoption is accelerating quickly," Costello said. "A year ago the focus was on experimentation, but now we're seeing organisations put AI into production and begin to realise real returns."

The shift is evident across sectors from retail to government, she said, citing examples such as AI-powered shopping tools from British e-commerce firm THG that have boosted customer spending, and public-sector systems helping to speed up planning decisions.

London, home to Europe's largest concentration of tech talent, is seeking to cement its position as a global AI hub, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer pushing to position Britain as an AI "superpower".

Costello said Britain was "leading in this space", pointing to a strong research base and institutions such as Google DeepMind in London.

Broader adoption could deliver significant gains for smaller firms, she added, with Google research suggesting that AI could boost productivity by about 20%, effectively giving business owners "a day back" each week.

However, the pace of AI adoption will depend on investment in skills, leadership engagement and trust, particularly around security and data sovereignty.

"Technology is only half of the answer — people are the other half," Costello said. "Leaders can't sleep at the wheel, they need to get hands-on and understand how to apply this in their organisations."

(Reporting by Sam Tabahriti, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)