Nearly half of UK firms think their business models won’t exist in 5 years because of A.I., study says

October 30, 2018
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By: Elizabeth Schulze

OCTOBER 30, 2018

Artificial intelligence is changing business fast and many U.K. companies can’t keep up.

A new report Wednesday found that 41 percent of British companies surveyed said their business models will cease to exist in the next five years thanks to artificial intelligence (AI). The research, conducted by Microsoft, surveyed more than 5,000 business leaders and employees of large enterprises across the United Kingdom.

It also found 51 percent of the country’s business leaders surveyed do not have an AI strategy in place for their organizations.

“Like any change, sometimes it’s easier to do nothing than to do something,” Clare Barclay, Microsoft U.K.’s chief operating officer, told CNBC in a phone interview last week. “Every business is going to be touched by AI.”