source: google ai: unlocking britain’s next era of productivity: building a nation of ai trailblazers
level: business
a study by public first for google uk finds workplace ai adoption has doubled in a year, reaching 73% from 34% in 2025. the research segments users into four groups: spectators who do not use ai, experimenters trying simple tasks, practitioners using it daily, and trailblazers who push boundaries. only 15% qualify as trailblazers, and they report saving nearly eight hours a week across work and personal life.
trailblazers are 84% more likely to have been promoted in the past year, 88% more likely to get a positive performance review, and 55% more likely to receive a pay rise, even after controlling for age, sector, gender, ethnicity, education, and business size. the benefits are not evenly distributed across demographics, and the gap could widen without action. reaching advanced use does not require deep technical skills, the report notes.
three main barriers keep the other 85% from advancing: behavioral habits like one-and-done prompting, a cognitive search-box mindset that treats ai as a lookup tool rather than a creative partner, and an organizational permission gap where workers lack clear guidance. to address this, public first launched an ai skills quiz, and google expanded its ai works for britain upskilling initiative, building on a program that has trained over 1.2 million people.
why it matters: closing the ai skills gap could boost career progression and national productivity, making ai literacy a key lever for economic growth.
source: google ai: unlocking britain’s next era of productivity: building a nation of ai trailblazers