UK Workers Spend £1 Billion on Personal AI Tools

United Kingdom workers spend nearly £1 billion of their own money annually on generative AI tools to assist with their professional tasks. According to the inaugural GenAI Workforce Survey conducted by Deloitte, two-thirds of employees have tried tools such as ChatGPT, Claude, Google Gemini, and Microsoft Copilot, with nearly a quarter utilizing them on a daily basis.

The research reveals a significant gap between employee adoption and corporate provision. Approximately 31% of respondents engage in shadow AI by using these tools without their employers' knowledge, and 17% pay for premium versions themselves. On average, workers save 70 minutes per week by using AI for drafting emails, creating summaries, and searching for information.

Deloitte officials noted that workers are adopting these technologies faster than employers are providing them. While current usage remains focused on basic content drafting and information retrieval, the firm suggests that the greatest corporate advantages will come from implementing proper guardrails and purpose-driven guidance rather than simply providing tool access.