AI Adoption Conference 2027 - From Ambition to Impact

Coffee + networking as we get settled

Join Julian David OBE, CEO of techUK, who will open the day by outlining the prize on offer to the UK and the need for continued momentum and focus on responsible AI adoption, and the need to consider how we get AI adoption right for everyone, everywhere across the UK. With 2027 set to be the year we find out whether the UK can actually deliver on its AI adoption ambitions, are we materially moving forward, and if not, what more is needed and by whom?

Details to follow. Focus on where AI adoption delivery stands and what the year ahead demands.

We launch techUK's first AI Adoption Index, built with Public First: a new evidence base mapping where the UK is actually adopting AI, how firms are using it, what's holding them back, and where adoption grows next. Across the eight Industrial Strategy sectors and every region, it turns headline ambition into hard evidence.

If the question is where responsible AI adoption really stands, this panel answers it by exploring what the data tells us. Drawing on the Index, panellists move past the headlines to the granular picture: which sectors and regions are pulling ahead, what firms are actually using AI for, and the specific barriers stopping ready businesses from going further. It will ask whether the data aligns with the ambitions set by Government and supports the policy initiatives now in train and if not, explore whether, where and how we may need to change course.

Coffee break

Six to seven months on from publication of the sectoral delivery plans, techUK is bringing together some of Government’s AI Champions to answer two questions: what progress is being seen and are we moving fast enough? This session provides an update on the Champions’ plans, where they have moved the needle, where they have stalled, and where the future adoption opportunities lie. It will also test to what extent the AI Champions plans address the issues raised by the AI Index or are there gaps that still need to be filled. An honest stocktake of promised versus delivered, sector by sector.

Lunch break

Details to follow. Stay tuned.

A rapid-fire showcase of real-world adoption. We spotlight examples of concrete deployments across sectors and the public-private divide to show what good looks like in practice, what it takes to move from a single success to something others can copy, and how we can ensure that trust is at the core of responsible adoption.

BREAKOUT 1: What’s missing? Exploring whether facilitators are the key to bridging the AI skills gap AI diffusion depends on three groups: innovators who build AI, facilitators who help organisations deploy it, and individuals who use it. The UK already invests in the first and the third, through frontier scholarships and workforce skills programmes. The open question is the middle. Are we building enough facilitators to turn AI capability into deployment across firms, sectors and public services? Will upskilling the existing workforce get us there, or do firms need new roles embedded in-house? Drawing on the AI Adoption Index, speakers will explore what it takes to grow the UK’s facilitator pool, from early careers to regional partnerships.

BREAKOUT 2: Crossing the valley from pilots to systemic change: Exploring the challenge of scaling AI adoption While AI piloting has become common practice within organisations, fewer organisations are managing to scale pilots into lasting systemic deployment. This panel confronts the valley in between. It explores whether firms are still stuck at proof-of-concept, or have moved on to hitting new walls as they scale. Are those that have scaled seeing real value and ROI, or are they finding themselves at a new, more confusing stage of AI adoption? If so, what do they need to move forward? Industry experts and leaders will reflect on the current reality being faced and dive deeper into the enablers and barriers to AI deployment and use at scale.

Coffee break

Drawing on the Index and the discussions across the day, panellists set out what must happen through 2027 (on regulation, infrastructure, funding and skills) for the UK to realise the economic and social potential of responsible AI adoption.

We reflect on the final steps and what comes next, tying together what needs to be taken forward to drive regional and sectoral AI adoption.