What happened
Deloitte UK published the inaugural GenAI Workforce Survey (September 16, 2026), described as the largest single-country study of workplace GenAI use, based on a representative quota sample of 25,000 UK workers aged 18-70 fielded by Ipsos between 7 May and 10 June 2026. Key findings: '63% of UK working adults aged 18-70 say they knowingly use GenAI for work'; 'Deloitte estimates annual personal spend among UK workers is £958 million'; nearly a third of GenAI users 'use GenAI without their employer's knowledge' (shadow AI); roughly half of GenAI-using employees report no formal training on safe and effective AI use; and workers claim to save an average of 70 minutes per week using GenAI at work. Use remains shallow — the top use cases are searching for information (43%), drafting emails (43%) and creating summaries (31%) — and 65% of GenAI users report a lack of convincing leadership on how GenAI should be used. The survey will be repeated every six months.
Why it matters
Provides board-grade quantification of shadow AI adoption and the training/leadership gap — £958M of unreimbursed personal spend and 31% concealed usage are the metrics a CISO and CHRO can use to justify governance, procurement, and enablement programs.
Action needed
Benchmark your own GenAI usage posture against the 31% shadow-AI and ~50% no-training figures and put responsible-use guidance ahead of further tool provisioning.