UK business leaders’ confidence in AI remains high, but may mask integration issues, Expleo warns

The Expleo AI Pulse, commissioned by the global engineering, technology and consultancy services provider, gauges business sentiment towards AI, ranging from 0 (very worried) to 100 (very confident).

The sentiment score among businesspeople in the UK in the final quarter of 2025 averaged 71, some six points ahead of France (64) and four more than Germany (66) – making the UK the most optimistic business community of the three in their overall sentiment towards AI.

Jeff Hoyle, EVP and MD UK & North America at Expleo, said: “UK businesses are approaching AI with confidence and ambition, which is encouraging. But confidence alone doesn’t guarantee resilience. Our quarterly view shows leaders feeling increasingly comfortable with AI at a time when many organisations are still working out how it fits into complex, real-world systems.

“There’s a real risk that positive sentiment leads organisations to underestimate the operational, ethical and governance challenges that come with embedding AI at scale.”

Expleo’s quarterly view, based on UK responses from the October to December 2025 editions of the AI Pulse, shows consistently high levels of confidence, trust and optimism towards AI revealing an average sentiment tracker score of 71. Across the quarter, ‘worry’ about AI’s impact on organisations remained the lowest ranked sentiment, with an average of one in three leaders (37%) sharing concerns, while trust in their business’ ability to use AI ethical remained robust, averaging 87% across the period.

In addition, the data points to a subtle but important trend – with confidence (73% average), trust (80% average) and excitement (77% average) remaining high across the quarter and ‘worry’ consistently ranking as the lowest sentiment in the index (37% average), there may be a disconnect between perceived success and unlocking enterprise-wide value.

This disconnect is highlighted in additional UK research from Expleo, which found that although 70% of organisations rate their AI initiatives as ‘successful’ – scaling remains a major challenge. Four in 10 business leaders cited integration with existing systems as the biggest barrier to moving beyond pilots, highlighting a disconnect between confidence, perceived success and enterprise-wide impact.

The AI Pulse sentiment tracker also reveals potential blind spots among those preparing for the next phase of AI adoption. When asked about anticipated investment priorities for AI in 2026, most respondents selected ‘cybersecurity’ (43%), followed by investment in ‘data analysis and insights’ (35%) with ‘automation’ (26%) rounding out a trio of top picks.  In contrast, just one in ten believed investment would focus on ethics and compliance, despite growing reliance on AI in decision-making, customer interaction and regulated environments.

Hoyle added: “As AI becomes more deeply embedded in critical systems, organisations need to look beyond headline success and ask tougher questions about governance, accountability and long-term impact. Understanding how AI influences each process individually will be essential if businesses want to scale safely and sustainably.”

Hoyle concluded: “The UK’s positive outlook on AI remains a competitive advantage. However, turning that confidence into lasting value will depend on disciplined execution – aligning AI ambition with system integration, ethical oversight and measurable business outcomes, not just early wins.”