Akeneo, the Product Experience (PX) leader, has released new UK findings from its Agentic Commerce Reality Check Report, revealing that 87 per cent 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 per cent of respondents report either significant measurable returns or moderate improvements from AI adoption. This rises to 87 per cent in the UK and France, compared with 84 per cent in the US, 81 per cent in Germany and 74 per cent in Italy.
The UK also has one of the highest proportions of organisations reporting substantial returns. Some 44 per cent say they are seeing significant, measurable benefits and ROI from AI adoption, level with France and ahead of the US at 42 per cent, Italy at 31 per cent and Germany at 28 per cent. A further 43 per cent 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 per cent) measure AI through efficiency and cost savings, compared with 55 per cent internationally. The UK is also the market most likely to track AI’s contribution to revenue growth, cited by 60 per cent of respondents. This compares with 57 per cent in the US, 36 per cent in France, 35 per cent in Italy and 34 per cent in Germany.
Customer experience quality is measured by 53 per cent of UK organisations, while 37 per cent 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 per cent) reports some improvement in IT productivity.
Some 44 per cent say AI has delivered significant gains, materially reducing manual effort or time spent on core IT tasks across multiple workflows. This compares with 41 per cent in the US, 35 per cent in France and Italy, and 28 per cent in Germany.
A further 53 per cent of UK respondents report moderate improvements in particular tasks or teams. Just 2 per cent say AI has produced no noticeable productivity change, while another 2 per cent 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 per cent of UK respondents rate the product and operational data used by their AI systems as good or excellent, including 43 per cent who describe it as accurate, consistent, well-governed and trusted across teams. This compares with 36 per cent 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 per cent of respondents. That is higher than the 65 per cent international average and compares with 60 per cent in the US and 56 per cent in France.
UK respondents are also highly confident about their ability to support AI-driven commerce: 98 per cent describe their organisations as very or somewhat ready across data quality, integration, governance, skills and scalability. Some 56 per cent are very confident, behind the US at 62 per cent but ahead of France at 46 per cent, Italy at 45 per cent and Germany at 34 per cent.
However, turning data into AI-ready information still absorbs considerable resources. UK respondents estimate that an average of 43 per cent of total AI project effort is spent cleaning, structuring or labelling data rather than developing models. Internationally, the average is 45 per cent, rising to almost 50 per cent in Germany.
As AI begins to produce measurable results, organisations are preparing to invest further. Some 84 per cent of UK respondents expect their AI budgets to increase over the next one to two years, including 36 per cent who anticipate a significant increase.
The US shows the strongest appetite for additional spending, with 92 per cent expecting budgets to rise and 45 per cent anticipating a significant increase. Equivalent figures for an overall budget increase are 89 per cent in Italy, 87 per cent in France and 84 per cent in Germany.
IT automation is the leading UK investment priority for the next one to three years, selected by 68 per cent of respondents. This compares with an international average of 57 per cent. Skills development and customer support are each priorities for 34 per cent of UK organisations, followed by compliance and governance at 33 per cent.
“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 per cent of UK respondents are optimistic about its impact on their organisations during the next three years, including 57 per cent who are very optimistic. Only the US records a higher level of strong optimism, at 65 per cent.
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