UK firms are spending more on AI than ever before, but still think data is holding them back

SAP report says AI spend could rise 45% between 2026 and 2028, ROI up by an estimated 39% Half of businesses worry agentic AI is being deployed quicker than governance Poor data quality is holding them back, 67% believe in integrated data systems as a fix The average UK business now spends £20.6 mil

<![CDATA[ <article> <ul><li><strong>SAP report says AI spend could rise 45% between 2026 and 2028, ROI up by an estimated 39%</strong></li><li><strong>Half of businesses worry agentic AI is being deployed quicker than governance</strong></li><li><strong>Poor data quality is holding them back, 67% believe in integrated data systems as a fix</strong></li></ul><p>The average UK business now spends £20.6 million on AI per year according to new <a href="https://www.sap.com/uk/documents/value-of-ai-in-the-uk-2026-1353012" target="_blank">SAP data</a>, marking a substantial 27% year-over-year increase compared with 2025 (£16.2 million).</p><p>And this is showing no signs of slowing down - as SAP even anticipates a further 45% increase in the two years between 2026 and 2028, bringing average UK business AI spend to very nearly £30 million annually.</p><p>Importantly, SAP also envisions ROI increasing in line with spend, rising from 17% in 2025 to 22% this year, and as much as 39% by 2028.</p><h2 id="uk-ai-spend-is-rising-but-at-a-cost">UK AI spend is rising, but at a cost</h2><p>Despite anticipated rises in ROI, SAP criticized Britain's businesses for lacking AI strategies. Only 11% are said to have a strategic and holistic approach to AI investments, with around two in five businesses prioritizing AI investments on a department level instead of org-wide.</p><p>"Organisations are increasing their investments and expecting more in return, but now the focus needs to be on turning that ambition into scalable business value," SAP UK&I MD Leila Romane explained.</p><p>While AI spend is largely on the rise, agentic AI deployments are still in progress, with around 70% of UK businesses piloting agentic AI use cases. Still, there's widespread optimism among users, who believe they could unlock a 4.7x rise in financial returns over the next two years.</p><p>Among AI agent users, around half (49%) worry they're being introduced faster than they can be governed, and only a minority (9%) consider their governance skills and expertise to be fully ready. A staggering three in five (61%) are either developing governance processes now, or reported limited or no readiness at all.</p><p>But despite a clear lack in governance, most are opting to blame their poor data foundations. Poor data quality (71%), incomplete information (70%), siloed systems (65%) and limited access to real-time data (62%) are all considered to be barriers in this area.</p><p>Looking ahead, two-thirds (67%) believe integrated data systems are likely to become the most important enabler for AI readiness.</p><p>"Good governance is not a brake on AI adoption – it’s actually the opposite," CBI Technology and Innovation Director Naomi Weird added.</p><figure class="van-image-figure pull-right inline-layout" data-bordeaux-image-check ><div class='image-full-width-wrapper'><div class='image-widthsetter' style="max-width:676px;"><p class="vanilla-image-block" style="padding-top:31.51%;"><img id="diM9tpwF2Lz85R8q85CT78" name="tr-g_news" alt="Google logo on a black background next to text reading 'Click to follow TechRadar'" src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/diM9tpwF2Lz85R8q85CT78-1920-80.jpg" mos="" align="right" fullscreen="" width="676" height="213" attribution="" endorsement="" class="pull-rightinline"></p></div></div></figure> </article> ]]>