AI growth and investment opportunities in the UK: Reflections from our CEO-Permanent Secretary Dinner

Senior leaders from government, business and civil society gathered at our CEO–Permanent Secretary Dinner to discuss how the UK can pursue its AI ambitions, exploring AI Growth Zones, sovereign infrastructure, workforce transition and the leadership behaviours needed to scale adoption.

The UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy identifies AI as one of the key growth sectors and national economic levers, backed by long-term commitments in compute, skills, regulation and investment. The UK secured nearly 18% of all technology-related FDI projects in Europe in 2025, and latest estimates suggest AI could contribute up to £79 billion in additional economic value to the UK by 2035, lifting annual GDP growth by around 2.98 percentage points. But with frontier AI capabilities doubling roughly every seven months, the window for action is narrowing. Real competitive advantage will belong not only to countries and organisations that develop frontier technologies, but also to those that succeed in scaling adoption and deploying AI across their economies at pace, embedding it into core working models across the public, private, and civil society sectors.

This delivery challenge was at the heart of a recent dinner convened as part of WIG's CEO–Permanent Secretary Dinner Series, held in partnership with EY under its ‘Shared Growth Initiative’. Bringing together senior leaders from government, business, and civil society in a trusted space, the evening highlighted the urgent need for visible leadership, sovereign capabilities, infrastructure investment and cross-sector action to translate rapid technological advances into sustainable economic growth.

Key Takeaways:

The UK’s future competitiveness will be determined not just by AI innovation, but by the speed and scale of adoption and deployment across the public, private and civil society sectors.
Unlocking the potential of AI Growth Zones requires certainty in planning and grid access, confidence through visible public-sector adoption, and community by clustering around existing infrastructure to crowd in private investment.
Leaders must be able to signal compute demand clearly to catalyse large-scale investment, and visibly champion AI adoption and incentivise change within their own organisations.
Sustained AI-driven growth will depend on building public trust, facilitating skills and workforce transition, and strengthening sovereign capability and infrastructure.

Building the AI ecosystem: The leadership imperative

The opening remarks at the dinner outlined the strategic picture and three key takeaways for leaders on AI adoption and deployment.

Leaders must quantify and communicate future compute and infrastructure requirements more clearly, providing the confidence and market signals needed to unlock large-scale investment in the UK's AI ecosystem.
Leaders should play an active role in normalising AI adoption within their organisations by embedding it into routine analytical and administrative tasks, while redirecting human effort towards higher-value judgement, decision-making and assurance.
Finally, organisations must proactively strengthen resilience by deploying advanced frontier AI models to identify vulnerabilities, stress-test cybersecurity systems, and prepare for the risks and opportunities posed by rapidly evolving technologies.

AI Growth Zones: Creating the conditions for long-term investment

Discussions on AI Growth Zones highlighted that attracting sustained global investment will depend on creating certainty, confidence and community.

Participants emphasised the importance of public engagement, efficient planning processes, access to capital, and clustering activity around existing post-industrial infrastructure.
Visible public-sector adoption was seen as particularly important for building confidence and crowding in private investment.
Leaders, however, agreed that significant barriers remain, including grid connectivity, water infrastructure constraints and concerns about the long-term sustainability of AI investment.

There was a strong consensus that progress must be accelerated by treating every Growth Zone as a mini-burning platform. Participants warned that any further delays risk allowing investment and opportunities to be captured by competing international markets.

Addressing barriers to AI adoption and deployment

The discussion focused on the practical barriers to AI adoption and deployment, particularly workforce transition and organisational readiness.

There’s a need for credible reskilling and upskilling opportunities, especially for workers approaching retirement and those in roles most exposed to technological change.
While the UK's strong innovation ecosystem was recognised as a significant strength, challenges linked to legacy systems, sovereign capability and procurement processes continue to slow adoption.
Government procurement models were identified as a particular constraint, with greater flexibility needed to enable innovation and scale deployment.
Risk appetites differ between sectors. Accelerating adoption will require cultural change, particularly within the public sector, to encourage experimentation and incentivise innovation.

Building collaboration, trust and sovereign capability

Participants explored the role of collaboration and trust in managing risk, securing public consent and building long-term resilience.

Discussions highlighted persistent skills gaps, public concerns about automation, and the need for a clearer, more compelling narrative about AI's benefits to avoid backlash that could slow adoption and growth.
Building public trust was viewed as critical to maintaining momentum. This will require a balanced narrative that is honest about disruption and workforce transition while clearly articulating the opportunities AI presents for individuals, organisations and the wider economy.
There was also strong agreement on the importance of strengthening sovereign capability, with participants emphasising the need to develop domestic AI infrastructure and reduce reliance on overseas providers for strategically important technologies and services.

What this means for UK leaders

As the UK looks to deliver on its Modern Industrial Strategy, cross-sector collaboration between government, business and civil society will be central to scaling AI adoption, building sovereign infrastructure, and maintaining global competitiveness.

The evening's discussions concluded that the UK already has the ambition, the innovation base, and, increasingly, the policy momentum to attract global investment and become a genuine leader in AI-driven growth. Realising the economic benefits of AI will now require sustained action to build sovereign capabilities, accelerate adoption, invest in skills and infrastructure, and earn public trust. Above all, it will require leaders who can forge cross-sector partnerships that no single organisation can build alone, and who champion change in a way that makes the opportunity real for their organisations, the public, and the wider economy.

WIG's Shared Growth Initiative exists to seize such opportunities, convening leaders across sectors to translate shared ambition into strategic, joined-up action that delivers sustainable economic growth and social prosperity across the UK.

The CEO–Permanent Secretary Dinner Series is WIG's exclusive, invitation-only forum for the UK's most senior leaders. Designed to foster candid dialogue across sectors on national growth priorities outlined in the Modern Industrial Strategy, each dinner convenes chief executives, permanent secretaries, and senior leaders from civil society around a shared strategic challenge, building the relationships and shared understanding that enable joined-up delivery.

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