Closing the infrastructure gap to unlock AI potential
Across industries, the AI race is well underway. From conversational assistants to demand forecasting tools and anomaly detection systems, AI is no longer experimental, it’s operational.
Recent research shows that 88% of UK tech leaders believe AI will be essential to delivering business value over the next 12 months.
But for many enterprises, the ground is already shaking beneath their feet. Network outages and underperformance are costing organizations millions each year, directly impacting business outcomes.
In fact, new research from Expereo found that a third of UK organizations are losing up to £4 million per year due to network outages or underperformance, and nearly one in five are losing more than that.
These are not just IT glitches, they are multimillion-pound problems affecting growth, customer experience, and competitiveness.
The message is clear: the time to act is now. AI adoption is accelerating, but so are the consequences of inaction. Without strong digital foundations, even the most promising AI strategies will stall.
As AI advances into customer-facing operations, the margin for error becomes increasingly narrow. Infrastructure must catch up now, or risk becoming the very thing that holds transformation back.From innovation to interruption: when infrastructure becomes the bottleneck
AI adoption is progressing rapidly, but infrastructure readiness is lagging behind. New research from Expereo also found that half of UK organizations have been forced to re-evaluate their technology stack following recent IT disruptions, including outages, cybersecurity incidents, and connectivity failures.
At the same time, investment priorities are shifting. Networking and connectivity have overtaken AI as the top technology investment focus for UK businesses, a reversal from last year’s priorities.
This is not a loss of enthusiasm for AI, but a recognition that AI cannot deliver if the underlying systems cannot support it. Poor network performance is increasingly seen as a direct threat to growth and innovation.
For too long, businesses have chased innovation without reinforcing the foundations beneath it. That balance is finally shifting in the right direction, and not a moment too soon.
