Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential contribution of AI to productivity growth in the UK, particularly in professional services; and what steps they are taking to ensure that small and medium-sized enterprises are able to adopt AI tools to increase productivity.

The Government recognises the significant role that digital and information technologies play in driving productivity growth across the UK economy. OECD analysis indicates that widespread AI adoption could raise UK productivity by 0.4–1.3 percentage points annually, potentially adding £55–140 billion in GVA by 2030.

The Government is committed to realising these benefits, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Shaheen Sayed, Chief Commercial Officer at Accenture has been appointed as the Professional Business Services (PBS) AI Champion. She will serve as a strategic link between industry and government, with a key objective to encourage PBS SMEs to adopt AI and digital technologies as a key enabler to growth and improved productivity. We are also working directly with industry on our ambitious commitment to upskill 10 million workers with essential AI skills for work through our AI Skills Boost programme.