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The study reveals 99% of large UK businesses (over $500M in revenue) believe that the regulatory environment has held back their GenAI efforts. This belief is consistent with large organisations around the world, with 92% of businesses in the US and APAC saying the same. However, when it comes to implementation, UK organisations are ahead of their global peers with 63% having already adopted GenAI in their business practices, compared to 51% in APAC and 48% in the US.
Informatica’s annual global study of data leaders reveals that although organisations are planning to increase investment in GenAI, they are finding difficulty in demonstrating business value - including meeting unrealistic C-suite expectations and a quicker return on investment.
Key insights supported by the study include:
UK’s regulatory environment risks delaying the advancement of GenAI progress
Over half of UK businesses (53%) believe that additional regulatory review requirements have caused delays in launching GenAI projects. This is far higher than US (27%) and APAC (31%) counterparts. Nearly a quarter (23%) of UK data leaders say that some projects have been stalled until they receive further clarity on legal posture and risk. This compares to 30% in the US and 31% in APAC.
From pilot to production: People, technology and data quality remain barriers
Despite leading in adoption globally, UK data leaders face challenges in scaling their GenAI projects. Only 38% of GenAI pilots in the UK have successfully transitioned into production, in line with other markets - 35% in the US and 42% in APAC. Key obstacles preventing the transition into full production for UK data leaders include technology limitations (43%), data quality, readiness and completeness (39%), a shortage of skills and lack of data literacy (38%) and uncertainty and changes in AI regulations (32%).
The business value of GenAI initiatives is proving difficult to justify
Nearly all (95%) UK data leaders find it challenging to demonstrate the business value of GenAI initiatives. Misaligned expectations within the C-suite exacerbate this issue, with 98% of data leaders stating that their peers expect GenAI to deliver ROI far faster than is realistic. The main reasons for being unable to demonstrate value include concerns over the reliability of the results (48%), concerns over the responsible use of AI (45%) and cybersecurity and privacy restraints (39%).
"UK businesses are leading the global charge on GenAI adoption, but they’re hitting regulatory and operational roadblocks that risk slowing progress," said Emilio Valdes, SVP EMEA & LATAM at Informatica. “The pressure to demonstrate ROI, combined with concerns over data quality and regulatory delays, is creating a perfect storm for data leaders. Unless their data is ready for AI, they won’t be able to unlock GenAI’s full potential. To succeed, organisations must focus on strengthening their data foundations. Ensuring data is accurate, holistic, integrated, up-to-date and well-governed is a critical step in converting pilots to transformational projects, proving value and navigating compliance challenges.”
GenAI investment expected to increase in 2025, amid challenges
Despite obstacles, nearly all large UK businesses (90%) expect their investments in GenAI to increase in 2025, in line with their counterparts in the US (93%) and APAC (86%). While nearly half (47%) say the need to meet changing regulatory requirements, getting data ready for analytics (48%) and improving data privacy and security (47%) is driving increased investments in data management.
Closing the skills gap to ensure responsible AI use
As well as developing their data management backbone, nearly three quarters of UK data leaders (74%) believe moderate to significant training is needed for their workforce to responsibly use AI or its outputs in their day-to-day operations. This compares to 79% saying the same in the US, and 85% in APAC. However, UK businesses believe it will take them slightly longer to train their staff, anticipating it will take just over a year (12.45 months), compared to 11.19 months in the US and 11.23 months in APAC.
