Akeneo, the Product Experience (PX) leader, today released new UK findings from its Agentic Commerce Reality Check Report, revealing that 87% of UK organisations using AI are already seeing measurable returns through productivity improvements, cost savings and other commercial benefits.
The UK findings are part of an international study of 1,000 senior IT decision-makers across the UK, US, France, Germany and Italy. They show that AI is moving beyond experimentation in every market, although organisations vary considerably in the scale of the returns achieved and how rigorously they measure them.
Across all five countries, 83% of respondents report either significant measurable returns or moderate improvements from AI adoption. This rises to 87% in the UK and France, compared with 84% in the US, 81% in Germany and 74% in Italy.
The UK also has one of the highest proportions of organisations reporting substantial returns. Some 44% say they are seeing significant, measurable benefits and ROI from AI adoption, level with France and ahead of the US at 42%, Italy at 31% and Germany at 28%. A further 43% of UK respondents report moderate improvements in productivity or cost savings.
The findings suggest UK businesses are taking a particularly commercial approach to assessing AI performance.
Almost two-thirds of UK respondents (64%) measure AI through efficiency and cost savings, compared with 55% internationally. The UK is also the market most likely to track AI’s contribution to revenue growth, cited by 60% of respondents. This compares with 57% in the US, 36% in France, 35% in Italy and 34% in Germany.
Customer experience quality is measured by 53% of UK organisations, while 37% monitor error reduction. None of the UK respondents say their organisation does not currently measure AI’s impact.
The figures indicate that AI is increasingly being judged not merely as a means of automating existing work, but by its ability to improve wider business performance.
The most immediate evidence of AI’s impact can be seen within IT teams. Almost every UK respondent (97%) reports some improvement in IT productivity.
Some 44% say AI has delivered significant gains, materially reducing manual effort or time spent on core IT tasks across multiple workflows. This compares with 41% in the US, 35% in France and Italy, and 28% in Germany.
A further 53% of UK respondents report moderate improvements in particular tasks or teams. Just 2% say AI has produced no noticeable productivity change, while another 2% say it has increased workloads through additional complexity, data preparation, governance or oversight.
The UK’s performance is accompanied by comparatively strong confidence in the data and systems underpinning AI.
Some 95% of UK respondents rate the product and operational data used by their AI systems as good or excellent, including 43% who describe it as accurate, consistent, well-governed and trusted across teams. This compares with 36% internationally rating their data as excellent.
Structured enterprise platforms such as PIM, ERP, DAM and CRM systems are the most widely used sources of AI data in the UK, cited by 71% of respondents. That is higher than the 65% international average and compares with 60% in the US and 56% in France.
UK respondents are also highly confident about their ability to support AI-driven commerce: 98% describe their organisations as very or somewhat ready across data quality, integration, governance, skills and scalability. Some 56% are very confident, behind the US at 62% but ahead of France at 46%, Italy at 45% and Germany at 34%.
However, turning data into AI-ready information still absorbs considerable resources. UK respondents estimate that an average of 43% of total AI project effort is spent cleaning, structuring or labelling data rather than developing models. Internationally, the average is 45%, rising to almost 50% in Germany.
As AI begins to produce measurable results, organisations are preparing to invest further. Some 84% of UK respondents expect their AI budgets to increase over the next one to two years, including 36% who anticipate a significant increase.
The US shows the strongest appetite for additional spending, with 92% expecting
budgets to rise and 45% anticipating a significant increase. Equivalent figures for an overall budget increase are 89% in Italy, 87% in France and 84% in Germany.
IT automation is the leading UK investment priority for the next one to three years, selected by 68% of respondents. This compares with an international average of 57%. Skills development and customer support are each priorities for 34% of UK organisations, followed by compliance and governance at 33%.
“AI has reached the point where businesses are no longer being asked simply whether they are using it, but what it is contributing,” said Romain Fouache, CEO of Akeneo. “Across every market in this research, organisations are reporting tangible returns, but the UK stands out for connecting AI investment particularly closely to efficiency, productivity and revenue growth.
“The next challenge is turning individual gains into repeatable, scalable value. For commerce businesses, that means giving AI access to trusted, governed and usable product information. Without that foundation, organisations will continue to spend too much time preparing and reconciling data, and AI will struggle to make reliable decisions, support better customer experiences or contribute consistently to business performance.”
Confidence in AI’s longer-term contribution remains high across all five markets. Some 96% of UK respondents are optimistic about its impact on their organisations during the next three years, including 57% who are very optimistic. Only the US records a higher level of strong optimism, at 65%.
To see the full results of the survey, please visit: The Agentic Commerce Reality Check: 10 Hard Truths from IT Leaders on What’s Really Holding AI Back (LINK).
To learn more about Akeneo, visit www.akeneo.com.
