Digital marketing experts have found that businesses which use artificial intelligence (AI) as part of their key service offering make an average of 152% more revenue per annum, than businesses that don’t.
Leading digital marketing agency, Embryo, carried out an in-depth analysis comparing the financial performance and growth trends of 3,715 UK AI-focused companies across 53 different sectors, against 5,418,323 companies in the same sectors that do not use AI.
The report revealed an exponential growth of 12.2% for businesses that adopt AI as part of their core offering, compared to the 6.5% estimated growth rate across those that don’t.
The data was collected from Data City, a widely acknowledged and trusted platform used by the UK government for collecting comprehensive data on businesses across the nation.
Embryo’s Chief Innovation Officer, James Welch, commented: “The UK is seeing a transformative shift in the number of businesses adopting AI into their core business functions. We all see this, but in 2024 this is going to increase greatly.
“Business owners are becoming increasingly more aware of AI’s capabilities and its game-changing potential to accelerate growth and boost revenue efficiently. As more companies become educated on the benefits, the data we have found suggests that this trend will gain even more momentum in years to come. That momentum will not be linear.”
The explosive growth of AI businesses
With the number of businesses choosing to adopt AI increasing by an estimated year-on-year growth rate of 12.2% (and expected to dramatically increase), they are exponentially outpacing those that do not.
This shows that as AI becomes more accessible, businesses are seizing the opportunity to integrate the efficiency of AI into their core business functions, helping to enhance their overall performance, and competitive advantage and leading to rapid growth.
Of the industries considered, the ‘data analysis’ industry emerged as the leader, accounting for 41% of the share of the total 3,715 UK AI companies surveyed. This was closely followed by ‘machine learning’ with 31%.
Additionally, between 2022 and 2023, we saw AI being adopted in ‘image processing’ (10%), ‘green tech’ (10%) and ‘natural language processing’ (10%), showing a diverse application for AI across many industries. This diversity is due to massively increase in the coming years.
James added: “The automation of routine tasks, advanced data analytics, and machine learning algorithms allow companies to make informed decisions, streamline processes, and significantly increase their revenue streams. 2024 and the next few years will see AI seep into more areas of business, and will almost certainly become useful in areas we have not yet even contemplated.”
With business growth, comes financial growth. The financial success of AI-focused businesses is evident, with the data showing that on average, AI businesses turn over just over £9m more annually than businesses that have not adopted AI.
Leading UK areas driven by AI
Although the use of AI is visible by businesses across the country, Embryo found that the top five areas leading the way by annual turnover and cities leading the way were:
As the financial hub, the City of London is, as expected, a natural site for AI innovation with businesses capitalising on advanced technologies to navigate the complexities of the financial sector.
Although Manchester and Leeds do not appear in the top areas by annual turnover for AI businesses, they still appear as leading cities in terms of the number of AI businesses registered.
In all, the findings from Embryo’s study clearly show that the rise in AI is reshaping the business landscape in the United Kingdom. As businesses across different industries begin to recognise the transformative growth and revenue potential of AI, the nation, like the rest of the world, is witnessing a shift in how companies innovate and operate.
