British workers spend nearly £1bn of their own money on GenAI for work, landmark Deloitte research finds

• The UK's largest survey of workplace AI adoption, based on responses from 25,000 workers, finds employees are spending an estimated £958 million annually on GenAI tools they use for work;
• Two-thirds of British workers have used GenAI tools for work;
• Nearly a third of GenAI users in the UK workforce are using GenAI tools without their employer's knowledge, showing the scale of shadow AI usage.

British workers are spending close to £1 billion a year from their own pockets on generative AI (GenAI) tools they use for work, according to major new research from Deloitte UK.

The findings come from Deloitte UK's inaugural GenAI Workforce Survey, the largest study of workplace GenAI use conducted in a single country. Based on responses from 25,000 workers across the UK, collected between 7th May and 10th June 2026, the research reveals how employees are really using GenAI* in their jobs and how organisations are responding. The survey will be repeated every six months to monitor how usage evolves as the technology becomes more widely adopted.

The launch survey found that 63% of UK working adults aged 18-70 say they knowingly use GenAI for work. When asked to describe what types of GenAI tools they are using, nearly half (46%) say they are using free tools at work, 34% say they are using external tools paid for by their employer and 17% say they are using in-house tools. In addition, one in six (17%) GenAI users pay for at least one GenAI tool themselves for work purposes. Deloitte estimates annual personal spend among UK workers is £958 million.

Prompt first, permission later: workers race ahead on AI

The survey suggests workers using GenAI are embracing the technology more quickly than many organisations are making tools available. Nearly a third (31%) of GenAI users say they use GenAI without their employer's knowledge, also known as shadow AI, and bring their own GenAI tools to work, while almost a quarter (24%) of UK workers now use GenAI tools every day for work. Many GenAI users (65%) also report a lack of convincing leadership on how GenAI should be used in their organisation.

Hayley McKelvey, chief AI officer at Deloitte UK, said: “UK workers are showing they don't want to wait for permission to use GenAI. Many are already using free tools or pay for premium versions themselves to help them get work done.

“The challenge is no longer getting people to use GenAI, it's how businesses meet this growing demand in a way that is secure, responsible and creates lasting value for both the organisation and its people.”

Workers save time with GenAI but fear being judged for using it

The UK workforce claims to be saving, on average, 70 minutes a week using GenAI tools at work and most of the time saved is used for doing more work for the same employer. Yet nearly a quarter (23%) think there is a stigma attached to using GenAI in the workplace while two thirds (64%) of weekly users are worried managers will think GenAI can do their jobs.

McKelvey added: “Workers who feel a stigma around adopting GenAI tools are more likely to conceal their use. Leaders should help their people use AI responsibly, with a clearly articulated and well-understood goal. That means being clear about why their workforce should use GenAI, how it should be used and what success looks like. This will help people use the tools more consciously, make better decisions, manage risks and add value.’’

AI use is widespread, but workers are only scratching the surface

The Deloitte UK research also indicates that GenAI users are largely using the technology to support everyday work activities with the top three use cases being searching for information (43%), drafting emails (43%) and creating summaries (31%). At the same time, around half of the employees who use GenAI at work say they have received no formal training on how to use AI safely and effectively in the workplace.

Paul Lee, partner and head of industry insight at Deloitte UK, commented: “The story here isn't that workers are using GenAI, it's that they are using it despite limited training, patchy guidance and, in some cases, without their employer's knowledge.

“What's particularly striking is how quickly GenAI has become part of everyday working life. Yet for many workers its role remains relatively basic, focused on searching for information and drafting content rather than supporting more complex work.

“The organisations that gain the greatest advantage from AI will be those that move beyond simply providing access to tools and focus on helping people use them with the appropriate guardrails and purpose.” 

ENDS

Notes to editors

To find out more about the Deloitte UK GenAI Workforce Survey, please follow this link.

*In this press release, GenAI refers to generative artificial intelligence: AI tools, including chatbots, that can generate content such as text, images, video and audio in response to user prompts.

Methodology

Deloitte UK's GenAI Workforce Survey surveyed a representative quota sample of 25,000 workers (employees and self-employed) aged 18-70 in the UK, using an online methodology. Fieldwork was conducted by Ipsos UK between 7th May to 10th June 2026.

Interlocking quotas were set on Age within Gender, Working Status within Gender (across Full time and Part-time employees as well as those who are Self- Employed), Industry Sector and Region (based on the location of residence). The data were weighted to the known offline population proportions for interlocking cells of Gender within Age, Working Status within Gender as per quotas, Industry Sector, Region, Social Grade, Education and Ethnicity.

The survey – the largest of its kind in the UK – looks at GenAI usage, the tools people use, what they use them for, shadow AI, training, governance and how confident people feel in their leaders’ understanding of AI.

The survey will be repeated approximately every six months until GenAI’s adoption is mature among UK companies. 

References to the “UK workforce” in this release relate to all 25,000 survey respondents. “GenAI users” refers to the 63% of respondents who reported using GenAI (base of 16,749 respondents). The remaining respondents said they did not use GenAI for work (34%, base of 7,624 respondents) or did not know whether they had used it (3%, base of 627 respondents).