The Green Room podcast
Is the UK ready for AI?
Unlocking AI’s potential depends on far more than winning the technology race.
Readiness isn’t a destination, it’s a choice.
How do we build an AI future that benefits us all?
Over the course of Series 14 , we’ve spoken to experts across industries, markets and Deloitte about some of the biggest questions in AI. How will it transform work, reshape industries, accelerate growth and create new opportunities across the UK? And can we trust it to do so safely and fairly?
But as the technology moves from experimentation to adoption, one big question remains: Is the UK ready for AI?
The answer depends on far more than the technology itself. It depends on whether organisations can build trust and get people to rethink work entirely. It depends on whether businesses can move beyond pilots and scale what’s showing promise. And it depends on whether the UK can create the infrastructure and fund the investments needed to capture AI’s value long term.
In this special episode, we bring together leading voices from across business to explore the choices that will shape the UK’s future, and what it will take to turn AI’s potential into real-world progress.
Watch below, or listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. Read the transcript here.
We're really at a key sort of inflection point. So now is really the moment to focus on how we can move from seeing the potential to really delivering that at scale. How do we get people and the technology working together in a way that actually takes things forward?
Sharon Hague – UK CEO, Pearson
“A technology that changes everything.”
The growth of AI has revealed an anomaly. For the first time in a major technological revolution – after steam, electricity, the internet – it’s the public adopting technology first while organisations continue to work out how to best use it.
So if people are already embracing AI, what does it take for organisations to turn that enthusiasm into meaningful change? For Mike Manby, Technology and Transformation Consumer Industry lead at Deloitte UK, success depends on bringing the whole organisation with you: “Change only happens when you've got the whole spine of the organisation lined up, excited about the change, also being clear about what are they’re going to get out of it and what's their role in contributing to it. That people element is as, if not more, important than the technology.”
That starts with leadership. For Ben Legg, former COO of Google Europe, leaders must “lead from the front” and “learn in public” to get the best outcomes of our use of AI. Which requires humility – showcasing your experiments, your learnings and even your failings for all to see!
And it’s not just about using AI to speed up the work you’re already doing. For the UK to get ahead, organisations must rethink the work entirely. As Deloitte’s Human Capital Consulting leader Kate Sweeney says, the real opportunity comes when businesses stop asking, “how do we AI what we do now?” and start imagining entirely new ways of working.
“It’s Everything Everywhere.”
The further you look into AI adoption, the more dependencies you uncover. Skills. Trust. Investment. Infrastructure. Energy. Each one is capable of accelerating progress – or slowing it down.
Trust remains a huge barrier. Many people have experimented with AI, but far fewer are confident enough to rely on it in their everyday work. As Kate Sweeney explains, a trust gap is emerging between what the technology can do and what people feel comfortable asking it to do. Closing that gap is about delivering on three values, “ability, benevolence and integrity” according to Simon McDougall, Chief Strategist for Privacy and AI at ZoomInfo.
Then there are the foundations most people never see. Every single prompt relies on physical infrastructure, energy supply and cost of compute – and the investment and collaboration needed to enable all three. As Deloitte UK Vice Chair Anne-Marie Malley says, the challenge is ensuring “we have the foundations... in a position where we can continue to use and exploit AI.”
Anne-Marie continues, “it’s everything, everywhere. And how do we manage it, how do we govern it, how do we help it? We now just need to work out, how do we make this work?"
A nation at a crossroads
Can the UK turn AI's potential into real-world progress?
In this special series finale, The Green Room host Jenny Haskel brings together the biggest ideas from across our AI series. From business leaders grappling with adoption and trust, to experts exploring the future of work, energy, infrastructure and investment, the episode reveals just how many choices still lie ahead – and the power we all hold to shape what’s next.
Watch below, or listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Read the transcript here.
Only by reframing our understanding of AI and being able to see the potential road bumps ahead are we able to ensure that our future can be AI-ready.
Jenny Haskel – The Green Room host
Let’s make this work.
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