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TOO MANY AI SOFTWARE TOOLS ARE ARCHITECTED AND PRICED FOR ENTERPRISES WITH DEDICATED IMPLEMENTATION TEAMS AND SIX-FIGURE CHANGE BUDGETS.

businesses are too large to benefit from SMEfocused support schemes whilst lacking the resources to invest in technology at the same scale as major enterprises.

This means that a business like JLA, employing hundreds of employees to sell commercial equipment to large housing and catering enterprises from their Yorkshire HQ, is grouped alongside outdoor equipment vendor, Decathlon, which operates internationally with close to 100,000 employees. So the mid-market has neither targeted support nor competitive resources, and Britain’ s AI adoption strategy is missing out on a significant share of the economic engine it’ s aiming for.

AI adoption ambition

The ambition to accelerate AI adoption in high growth sectors across British businesses through the BridgeAI plan is a welcome one. But ambition doesn’ t close the gap between what large enterprises can do and what the mid-market can actually afford to do.

For example, based in regional Scotland, the beverage brand, AG Barr, falls out of either category, despite being a longstanding successful British business looking to adopt an affordable AI. Left unsupported, businesses in this scenario have significantly overspent on unsuccessful AI not suited for their needs. Our own research suggests UK businesses are wasting a collective £ 11.7 billion on ineffective AI spending.

These are the agile mid-market UK businesses making budget-savvy procurement decisions designed for quick turnaround and stable growth. Driving businesses in this sector could play an important role in improving productivity and supporting economic growth. A better understanding of what successful AI adoption for this part of the market would help policymakers make more informed decisions on AI, benefitting businesses and British adoptions targets.

26 Intelligent SME. tech