UK Firms Rapidly Embrace Agentic AI, Finds Salesforce Study
New survey data presented at the Agentforce London 2025 event by Salesforce has shown that the United Kingdom is witnessing a dramatic increase in the utilisation of agentic artificial intelligence (AI) agentic AI is a type of AI that is built to work autonomously, as opposed to being a co-pilot. The study, commissioned via survey of more than 100 C-level executives of medium and large UK companies, reveals that 78 percent of businesses are already using agentic AI and an additional 14 percent intend to do so in the next six months. This would take the overall rate of adoption to an impressive 92 percent by the close of 2025.
Agentic AI is not merely another hype in the tech industry, it is reorganizing the very form of digital work. Salesforce claims that AI agents are already assisting UK organizations in reclaiming three to ten hours a week per employee, nullifying repetitive low-value tasks. This saves time equivalent to a reported 26 percent increase in employee productivity which is further, causing companies to grow and innovate faster.
Zahra Bahrololoumi, the CEO of Salesforce in the UK and Ireland, made it clear that it is not just an update of the technology but a change in the work culture. “ Agentic AI is neither deterministic nor merely supportive – it is autonomous, she remarked, emphasizing that agentic tools act with an autonomous decision-making process. “This isn’t a co-pilot. These are agents with real agency.”
Investment in AI Training Hits Historic Highs
The popularity of agentic AI has led to a corresponding outbreak of AI-related training and upskilling. According to Salesforce’s Digital Labour Trends report:
- 84% of UK senior executives plan to train their workforce in AI over the next year.
- 40% intend to begin this training within six months.
- Companies expect to invest approximately 12% of an average salary into AI training initiatives.
Such investment, according to Salesforce, is “among the largest skills investments of a generation.”
Workforce Transformation Underway
The workforce itself is also changing because of the greater use of AI. Almost one-fourth of the UK workers are likely to be redeployed to other jobs because of AI-related transformations. This is part of the bigger structural shifts on how organizations think about roles, work and talent utilization.
The survey respondents, who were 100 UK and 10 Irish business leaders, represented different industries and had firms of minimum 200 employees. This variety gives plausibility to the claim that agentic AI is not restricted to one area of activity but is transforming activities board was.
AI Skills Drive Receives Government Support
Also timed to coincide with the Agentforce event, the UK government has introduced a national AI skills development plan to upskill 7.5 million citizens by 5 years. Salesforce applauded this policy action, and it is quite coordinated with the commitment of the private sector.
Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology Peter Kyle said: “Ensuring that workers possess the skills required to work in and with AI is utterly essential to the economic growth we are carrying out as part of our plan of change.”
Strategic Partnerships to Strengthen AI Ecosystem
Continuing on the AI front, Salesforce also declared a fresh association with Brunel University. The partnership will entail workshops, research projects, and community outreach and impact using the Salesforce UK AI Centre and Brunel Centre for Artificial Intelligence. The project is an indication of a rising phenomenon of industry-academia collaborations, which are aimed at driving innovation and bridging the skills gap.
The announcement comes one year since Salesforce AI Center in London, a part of its $4 billion investment commitment in the UK over five years announced in 2023.
The results and actions by Salesforce indicate a turning point in the digital transformation in the UK. As the government and industry are now on the same track toward integrating AI and developing the workforce, the country is emerging as one of the leaders in terms of reasonable and effective AI implementation. With companies increasingly reinventing both job positions and business processes, agentic AI appears to become a staple of the UK economic strategy, not only in technology but also in other industries.
