How UK enterprises can unlock AI potential and recognise ROI

Artificial intelligence is no longer a lab toy. From predictive analytics and automated workflows to real-time personalised experiences and intelligent supply chains, AI is reshaping how enterprises work. It offers clear opportunities for efficiency, innovation, and growth.

Across the UK, enterprises have moved beyond experimentation. AI now sits in strategic roadmaps and board packs. The question is no longer ‘should we adopt AI?’ but ‘how quickly can we scale it?’ One obstacle continues to block progress: a shortage of critical technology skills.

A barrier to transformation plans

Expereo’s Enterprise Horizons 2025 findings show the scale of the problem. 44% of UK tech leaders say cybersecurity talent is the hardest to hire, 40% struggle to find networking expertise, and 33% report gaps in data, AI, and automation skills. The pattern mirrors 2024, so this is structural, not a blip.

The consequences are predictable: transformation stalls, risk rises, and delivering ROI drifts into the future. Cybersecurity gaps raise exposure, networking shortages slow modernisation, and weak data foundations leave AI outcomes unreliable.

How AI raises the stakes

AI ROI doesn’t happen in isolation. It depends on secure, flexible networks, clean data pipelines, and solid systems integration. As adoption accelerates, shortages in these skills become strategic risks. Having led large-scale transformation, I see the same pattern: bold AI goals constrained by the very expertise needed to execute them. Without the right capability, AI stays a boardroom slogan.

Building talent inside and out

Enterprises are responding in two ways. Internally, they upskill and cross-train while nurturing collaboration and creativity. Externally, they lean on specialist partners. Many expect to increase reliance on networking and cybersecurity providers to close the gap. The mix keeps momentum now while building a sustainable pipeline of capability.

The CIO’s evolving role

As AI moves up the agenda, the CIO’s role is shifting from infrastructure owner to architect of transformation, balancing technical performance with business risk and growth.

One in three UK technology leaders says their CEO now works more closely with the CIO than they did a year ago. 76% report that AI has raised their profile at the board level. Despite talk of a Chief AI Officer, 87% of organisations have not appointed one. The CIO remains the prime mover of AI strategy.

Securing skills for the future

The UK’s skills gap won’t vanish soon, but waiting is not a strategy. Success demands investment in people, deeper partnerships, and empowered technology leadership.

Bridging the skills and infrastructure gaps is how enterprises turn AI from ambition into reality. Close the gap and you get faster innovation, more intelligent decisions, and greater resilience. That is how AI moves from proof-of-concept to profit.