LONDON, June 17 - Adoption of artificial intelligence in Britain has moved beyond pilot programmes to what Google Cloud describes as a "tipping point," with companies and public bodies now embedding AI into core operations and starting to see payoffs, Maureen Costello said on Wednesday.
Costello, Google Cloud’s vice president for the United Kingdom, Ireland and Sub-Saharan Africa, told Reuters that firms which were experimenting with AI a year ago are increasingly using the technology to support more complex workflows and to boost efficiency. "Industry is on the cusp of a tipping point where AI adoption is accelerating quickly," she said. "A year ago the focus was on experimentation, but now we’re seeing organisations put AI into production and begin to realise real returns."
She pointed to examples spanning retail and government. British e-commerce company THG has rolled out AI-driven shopping features that have lifted average customer spending, Costello said, and public-sector systems are being used to accelerate planning decisions.
London, which the executive described as hosting the continent’s most concentrated pool of tech talent, is seeking to strengthen its role as a global AI hub under government efforts to build national capability. Costello highlighted Britain’s research base and institutions such as Google DeepMind in London as part of that positioning, saying the country is "leading in this space."
Beyond headline examples, Costello suggested that broader AI uptake could produce measurable productivity gains for smaller businesses. Citing Google research, she noted AI could raise productivity by roughly 20 percent, an improvement she characterised as effectively giving business owners "a day back" each week.
Yet the speed and scale of adoption will not be set by technology alone. Costello warned that progress depends heavily on investment in skills, active leadership and the establishment of trust around sensitive issues like security and data sovereignty. "Technology is only half of the answer - people are the other half," she said. "Leaders can’t sleep at the wheel, they need to get hands-on and understand how to apply this in their organisations."
The conversation around commercialising AI comes as market participants and policymakers assess how to turn experimental deployments into sustained productivity gains. The executive’s remarks underline both the current momentum in the private and public sectors and the organisational work required to translate that momentum into consistent business value.
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Contextual note: The views quoted above are those attributed to Maureen Costello in the interview and reflect her assessment of AI adoption in Britain as described during that discussion.