Artificial intelligence has become the business world’s favourite performance recently. FTSE 100 earnings calls now mention AI more than inflation, and investor briefings increasingly resemble tech expos. Analysts report that AI references in UK company filings have tripled in the past year, yet the results aren’t matching the rhetoric. Markets are beginning to glance sideways. AI is, for a lot of companies, buying time for results that may never arrive. How do you know if your AI strategy is theatre before it’s too late?

New data from the Office for National Statistics highlights how shallow much of the progress really is. Just 23 per cent of UK businesses say they are using some form of AI technology, and only four per cent of those report a reduction in headcount as a result. The figures sound benign, but they reveal an awkward truth. AI adoption is widespread enough to be fashionable but not deep enough to be transformative. The corporate world is talking about revolution while quietly maintaining business as usual. Many executives assume that adopting AI means installing tools, not redesigning work, there’s more than a little whiff of waiting for someone else to tell them what to do. Probably why the big tech folks are having such an easy time right now. The question is no longer who has AI, but who is using it well.

The myth of the productivity miracle

The much maligned and misunderstood MIT study published earlier this year illustrates how easily AI data gets distorted. The research found that generative AI could boost worker productivity by up to 59 per cent in specific tasks such as customer support. The finding spread across headlines and investor presentations as proof that AI was an economic saviour. The nuance was lost. The productivity gains applied to narrow, text-based........

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