# The Connected Mandate 2026: UK AI Readiness Gap

G2 Research examines how 100 UK business decision-makers experience technology fragmentation, AI readiness, security exposure, governance maturity, and the strategic value of becoming a connected organisation. The report finds that disconnected systems are not just an IT inconvenience: they affect productivity, security, compliance, AI value, customer experience, and the ability to respond quickly to change.

**Analysts:** Molly Burke and Aurora Martina Granata  
**Research partner:** OneAdvanced

## Executive Summary

UK organisations want to run AI on connected systems but mostly do not. In G2's 2026 study of 100 UK business decision-makers, commissioned with OneAdvanced, 77% operate estates where 60% or less of their software is connected, and 90% identify security or compliance exposure created by fragmentation. AI is already useful — 61% of leaders who discussed outcomes report time or quality gains — yet only 7% can quantify a financial return. 73% now call becoming a connected organisation business-critical, making integration the deciding condition of UK AI readiness.

A connected organisation is a business whose core software systems share data and workflows through integration, so information moves between applications without manual re-entry or gaps in ownership.

## Key findings

- 77% of UK business decision-makers run on estates where 60% or less of their software is connected.
- 90% identify security or compliance exposure connected to fragmented technology.
- 61% of leaders who discussed AI outcomes report time, productivity or work-quality gains, but only 7% can quantify financial return.
- 73% say becoming a connected organisation is extremely important or business-critical.
- 52% of UK leaders who tried to define sovereign AI showed limited awareness or misunderstanding of the term.

## Chapter summaries

### How well integrated are UK organisations' business systems?

Most UK organisations are only partly integrated. Workflows routinely cross five to nine applications, and fragmentation's largest cost is staff time, lost productivity and rework.

### What security risks does poor system integration create?

Poor system integration creates identity, access-control, monitoring and data-exposure risks. 90% of leaders identify security or compliance exposure in fragmented estates.

### Is AI delivering a return for UK organisations, and who is governing it?

AI is delivering operational value more often than financial proof. 61% of leaders who discussed outcomes report time, productivity or work-quality gains, but only 7% can quantify financial return, and 45% of active AI users still lack a fully established governance framework.

### Why do UK leaders now call becoming a connected organisation business-critical?

UK leaders call connection business-critical because integration now underpins competitiveness, growth and AI readiness. 73% rate becoming a connected organisation extremely important or business-critical.

### What is sovereign AI, and why does the misunderstanding matter?

Sovereign AI matters because leaders are already making investment decisions around control, data residency and model access, but 52% of those who tried to define it showed limited or mistaken understanding.

## Sponsor and partner context

This report was prepared for OneAdvanced by G2 AI Custom Research. The report includes a partner section introducing IQ by OneAdvanced, positioned as an intelligent system of work that connects workflows, teams, data, and AI in a trusted environment. Sponsor links are labelled and separated from the independent research findings.

## Executive perspectives

The report includes perspectives from OneAdvanced leaders including Marko Perisic, Andrew Henderson, Amanda Grant, and Xavier Langlois on reducing complexity, connecting workflows, governing AI, and building trusted foundations for sovereign AI.

## FAQ

### What is a connected organisation?

A connected organisation runs on integrated systems with a single, trusted source of truth that product, customer and enterprise information can move through reliably. That is how 73% of the UK leaders in this study defined it in their own words. A smaller group (14%) defines connectedness through automated end-to-end workflows that enable AI and faster decisions, and 10% emphasise governed, secure and role-appropriate access.

### What is sovereign AI?

Sovereign AI is the ability of an organisation or nation to develop, run and govern AI using infrastructure, data, models and oversight that remain under its own jurisdiction and control, so no outside party can access, constrain or exert legal authority over the system or its data. It goes beyond hosting: a model running on-premises is not sovereign in the full sense if its training pipeline, updates or telemetry route through an external party, or if governance for its use is undefined.

### What percentage of business systems are actually connected at UK organisations?

60% or less, for most organisations. 77% of leaders work in environments where no more than 60% of daily software tools are connected. Fragmentation shows up in daily work too: 59% of respondents who discussed application use said routine workflows span five to nine applications, so teams repeatedly move work, data and context across specialised tools to complete end-to-end processes.

### Why should leaders treat fragmentation as a risk issue rather than only an efficiency problem?

Security and compliance exposure was flagged by 90% of respondents. The leading concerns were data exposure, access-control and identity-management risks, cited by 47% of those who discussed security risk, while 39% pointed to expanded attack surfaces, inconsistent controls and weak monitoring. Fragmentation also carries operational costs: 64% of those discussing costs identified staff time, lost productivity and rework.

### Is AI already delivering value?

Yes, but the value is primarily operational and not yet consistently quantified in financial terms. Among respondents discussing outcomes, 61% cited time savings, productivity or work-quality gains; only 7% reported quantified cost, revenue or profitability effects, and 30% described ROI as limited, absent or unmeasured.

### How ready are UK organisations to scale AI with confidence?

Not very — use is running ahead of readiness. In G2's 2026 study of 100 UK business decision-makers, 61% of leaders who discussed outcomes report time, productivity or quality gains from AI, but only 7% can quantify a financial return, and 45% of active AI users operate without a fully established governance framework — all on estates where, for 77% of leaders, 60% or less of software is connected.

### Why is becoming a connected organisation now a strategic priority?

Because leaders now tie integration directly to competitiveness and AI. 73% of UK leaders call becoming a connected organisation extremely important or business-critical, and 58% of those who assessed it say integration is essential or critical to competing over the next two to three years. AI raises the stakes: it is being layered onto fragmented estates, making data integration a practical precondition for AI value.

### Do UK business leaders understand what sovereign AI means?

Mostly not. 52% of UK leaders who tried to define sovereign AI in their own words showed limited awareness or misunderstanding of the term, even though three-quarters say sovereignty already factors into their AI investment decisions. That gap makes sovereignty the blind spot inside otherwise clear integration strategies — leaders are investing against a concept they cannot yet fully specify.

### What is the biggest barrier to becoming an AI-enabled organisation in the UK?

Fragmented, disconnected systems. 77% of UK leaders operate estates where 60% or less of their software is connected, and 90% identify security or compliance exposure in fragmented environments. Because data silos undermine the integrated data AI depends on, the report finds data integration is a practical precondition for effective AI adoption — making fragmentation the first problem UK organisations must solve.

## Methodology

This research draws on 100 AI-moderated, conversational voice interviews with UK business decision-makers and business professionals, fielded in September 2026. Respondents worked at organisations with 250 or more employees or system users and confirmed they own or significantly influence decisions about technology systems, integration or AI investments. The sample spans senior IT, finance, transformation, cybersecurity, procurement, platform, operations, risk, compliance, AI and data and analytics roles, plus C-suite leaders including CTOs, CEOs, CISOs and CFOs.

Every transcript was processed through AI-enabled thematic analysis, then independently reviewed by G2's AI Custom Research team to verify coding, resolve ambiguous responses, and confirm the narrative accurately reflects what respondents said. Question-level bases vary because percentages reflect the interviews that addressed each topic; bases are stated alongside each chart. This report was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by G2's research team. This research was conducted by G2 in partnership with OneAdvanced. All analysis and conclusions are G2's own.

**Topics covered:** AI Adoption, Systems Integration