According to the ONS (June 2025), just 1 in 5 UK businesses are using AI in their operations. Meanwhile, the technology is advancing at breakneck speed, and those who’ve cracked deployment are seeing genuinely transformative productivity gains.

So why the lag? After almost three years working with organisations of all sizes on AI integration, I’ve identified six critical barriers holding businesses back. The good news is, they’re all addressable. Here’s what’s really stopping companies from making AI work.

The Sausage Blog Trap

Picture this: a board feels pressure to ‘do’ AI, so they delegate it to marketing. Marketing uses ChatGPT to write a blog about their products. The blog’s mediocre. Conclusion? “AI isn’t very good.” Box ticked, AI’s off the agenda.

I call this the Sausage Blog conundrum: judging AI on how well it performs a task you’re already good at. When it fails – or underwhelms – it’s dismissed. The problem? They’re testing AI on the wrong job entirely, missing where it could genuinely transform their operations.

AI Misconceptions: Is it Posh Google, or God?

Some think AI’s just a fancy search engine. Others believe it’s capable of literally anything. The truth’s somewhere between the two, but these misconceptions fundamentally impact adoption. Without understanding what AI actually can and can’t do right now, organisations either over-promise or dramatically under-utilise the tools.

Lack of AI Skills (Especially at the Top)

Yes, I would say this, but here’s the reality: if you don’t understand how to prompt effectively, what features exist under the hood, and what’s genuinely possible, you’ll never get out of first gear.

And this isn’t a task to delegate to IT or marketing. Training begins with the senior team. When leadership has a proper grounding in the tools, organisations become strategically aligned on AI deployment. It becomes a whole-organisation opportunity, not a departmental experiment.

Lack of Imagination

When ChatGPT updated it’s image creation tool earlier this year, most people just copied the ‘AI Action Figure’ meme – taking a pre-written prompt and adding their name. Funny, yes…but surprisingly telling.

The tools allow us to fundamentally change how we work, build entirely new workflows, and for those who become truly immersed, transform the products and services we deliver. But this requires imagination. Creatives are powerful here: they instinctively see possibilities where others see tasks.

The Curse of Shadow AI

Without AI governance, policies, and mandated enterprise-grade tools, staff will use their own accounts “under their desks.” Unsecured accounts pose enormous risks when handling proprietary or customer data, as information can be used as training data for AI makers.

To mythbust: there’s a misconception that ChatGPT isn’t secure for enterprise use. This is a myth. ChatGPT Business or Enterprise accounts provide full GDPR compliance and data security: your data is NOT used for training.

But free, unregulated accounts? Disaster waiting to happen.

Fear

When management pitches AI without explaining what the organisation is trying to achieve – or providing training – staff anxiety skyrockets. “It’s coming for our jobs,” they’ll think.

The idea of AI replacing skilled workers is vastly overstated in the media, but this messaging, combined with organisational silence, creates fear and resistance. Clarity comes when we talk about AI plus subject experts creating improved ways of working, freeing people from clunky processes so they can focus on higher-value work, and this doesn’t come from reducing headcount.

The Way Forward

The companies seeing genuine success with AI aren’t necessarily more innovative or better resourced: they’re simply addressing these challenges head-on. Start there, and you’re already ahead of 80% of UK businesses.