Variety of UK banks reporting AI-driven productiveness enhancements doubles

The variety of UK banks reporting productiveness good points from synthetic intelligence (AI) has doubled as initiatives transfer from pilots to manufacturing.

In accordance with Lloyds Banking Group’s newest Monetary establishments sentiment survey, 59% of surveyed corporations reported AI-driven productiveness good points prior to now 12 months, in contrast with 32% within the 2024 survey.

Banks additionally reported rising returns from AI in different areas. The most recent survey discovered that 21% of respondents imagine AI is instantly driving enterprise development, in contrast with 8% within the survey a 12 months in the past.

In the meantime, a 3rd (33%) of respondents mentioned AI is enhancing buyer experiences, up from 14% within the earlier survey. The identical quantity mentioned they’ve deeper buyer insights by AI, in contrast with 18% in final 12 months’s survey.

On account of the enhancements, half of the finance firms surveyed mentioned they deliberate to extend spending on AI over the subsequent 12 months.

Rohit Dhawan, director of AI and superior analytics at Lloyds Banking Group, mentioned the know-how was transferring into the execution section.

“Establishments are constructing on early investments and delivering tangible outcomes, reminiscent of productiveness good points and sharper buyer insights. At Lloyds, we now have over 800 fashions in operation, representing greater than 200 AI use instances, designed to boost colleague and buyer expertise, and we imagine that, with the suitable focus, the UK has a chance to guide in accountable AI adoption throughout monetary providers.”

Half of the companies questioned within the survey mentioned AI would assist construct a extra technologically expert workforce.

Digital challenger Zopa Financial institution additionally just lately launched survey findings that again the claims of productiveness good points. Its survey, carried out with Juniper Analysis, revealed that UK banks may save £1.8bn over the subsequent 5 years on account of investing the identical quantity in AI, with giant good points to comply with. It discovered that 187 million hours could be saved, primarily on account of back-office efficiencies.

Whereas the banking sector is, not surprisingly, main the best way on the subject of AI funding, different sectors are backing the know-how too.

In accordance with figures from Tussell, the UK public sector has seen spending on AI develop from £58m in 2018 to £573m in 2025. The overall spend of £3.45bn was by 1,309 contracts, between January 2018 to the top of July 2025.

For instance, current offers noticed Nationwide Highways signal a £35m AI contract with Deloitte, and Durham County Council purchase an AI device for social employees.

The most important UK public sector AI purchaser in the course of the interval, in response to Tussell, was the Met Workplace, which spent over £1bn, largely as a consequence of its supercomputer contract with Microsoft in 2021.

Different huge spenders have been the Division for Science and Innovation, which invested about £409m over the seven years; the Ministry of Defence, which spent about £270m; Transport for London, which invested £260m; and the NHS, which spent £224m.

Tussell mentioned whereas public our bodies have been buying AI-based options for nicely over a decade, “current breakthroughs – particularly in generative AI because the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022 – have spurred a recent wave of curiosity in how authorities may benefit from this quickly evolving know-how”.