UK founders lag peers in AI adoption, survey finds

British entrepreneurs are using artificial intelligence less than their peers in Germany, France and Spain, according to research from bunq, pointing to a UK gap in adoption among small business owners.

A survey of 4,510 founders across the UK, Ireland, Spain, Germany and France found that 51% of British business owners had used AI to support their business in the past 12 months, compared with 79% in Germany, 76% in France and 73% in Spain.

The figures come as ministers seek to position AI as a driver of economic growth and higher productivity. They suggest many smaller firms, which make up a large share of the business base, remain hesitant to apply the technology in day-to-day operations.

Admin burden

The reluctance stands out because many UK founders said they spend a large part of their week on administration. Two thirds, or 67%, said administrative tasks take up at least a quarter of their time, while 18% said admin consumes more than half of their working week.

That pressure does not appear to stem mainly from start-up paperwork. Only 13% of UK founders named regulation and administrative burden as their main challenge, behind finding finance at 24% and getting the business running at 22%.

Asked what would make the biggest difference to their business, respondents were split between reduced business rates at 26%, easier access to finance at 25% and lower or simpler tax filing requirements at 24%. More than four in ten also said the government either poorly incentivises entrepreneurs or actively disincentivises them.

Trust and knowledge

The main barrier to wider AI use among British founders was not price. Instead, 38% cited a lack of knowledge or trust as the single biggest obstacle, higher than in any other market covered by the survey and above Spain at 26% and France at 25%.

By contrast, 26% of UK founders said cost was the main obstacle to adopting AI, making British respondents the least likely among the countries surveyed to point to price as the central issue.

That distinction suggests the problem is less about access to tools and more about whether business owners understand where they can be used and whether they trust the results. For many founders, AI may still feel untested in areas such as finance, administration and compliance, where mistakes can be costly.

The pattern also points to a practical challenge for policymakers and technology suppliers. If business owners see AI as uncertain or difficult to apply, adoption may lag even where products are available and interest in the technology remains high.

Generational divide

Within the UK, the survey found a sharp age split. Among founders aged 25 to 34, 73% had used AI in the past year. Among those aged 55 to 64, the figure fell to 23%.

Researchers said the gap appeared stronger in Britain and Ireland than elsewhere in the sample. In Spain, founders aged 55 to 64 reported AI use of 62%, almost three times the rate among the same age group in the UK.

That raises questions about how evenly AI adoption is spreading across the business population. Younger entrepreneurs may be more comfortable testing new software and integrating it into daily work, while older founders may be more cautious about reliability, training time or the risk of disruption.

For the UK, the findings add to a wider debate about productivity. Smaller businesses account for much of private sector employment, and persistent administrative workloads have long been cited as a drag on expansion, hiring and investment. If those firms do not make greater use of tools that could reduce routine tasks, the gains expected from AI may be slower to appear.

Bunq, a European neobank, commissioned the research through Pollfish. The survey covered 1,000 founders in each of the UK, Spain, Germany and France, and 510 in Ireland. All respondents had previously launched a business.

Joe Wilson, chief evangelist at bunq, said one issue was whether founders could see a clear use case in their own businesses. "Being sceptical about a new tool until you see the actual value is good business sense," Wilson said. "Entrepreneurs juggle everything: finance, logistics, red tape... and that's where AI needs to win them over, by taking the admin off their plate and giving them back their time to focus on their actual business, not paperwork. Tech should fit around the business you're building, not the other way around."