Almost all UK scale-up founders believe the country’s workforce is unprepared for the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence, according to new research from Helm, Britain’s largest network of high-growth entrepreneurs.

In a survey of 400 Helm members, 93 per cent said they did not believe the UK workforce was adequately prepared for AI adoption. Just 3.5 per cent said it was, with the remainder unsure. The findings point to growing concern among business leaders that skills shortages could limit the economic upside of AI, while accelerating changes to hiring and workforce planning.

The poll, conducted on February 5–6, suggests that while fears of imminent mass redundancies may be overstated, AI is already reshaping employment decisions. A third of respondents said they expect AI adoption to lead to job cuts in their business within the next 12 months, while nearly two-thirds said they did not anticipate reductions.

However, 58 per cent said they were delaying or reducing new hires as a direct result of increased AI adoption, compared with 35 per cent who said they were not. The data indicates that many founders are opting to pause recruitment while reassessing which roles are best filled by people and which by technology.

Andreas Adamides, chief executive of Helm, said founders were facing difficult trade-offs as competitive pressure to adopt AI intensifies. “Business leaders are being pushed to move quickly, stay efficient and rethink roles as automation accelerates,” he said. “That inevitably has implications for jobs and hiring.”

He argued that the longer-term opportunity lay in reskilling rather than replacement. “If businesses and policymakers invest early in skills, AI can become a powerful engine for productivity and growth rather than a source of insecurity.”

Joshua Wöhle, founder and chief executive of AI training company Mindstone and a Helm member, said the skills gap was skewing how companies approached the technology. “Too much focus is on automation, because that’s where technology has historically delivered gains,” he said. “But generative AI’s real value is in augmentation — helping people do higher-value work.”

“Automation cuts costs,” he added. “Augmentation grows the top line. Ultimately, that difference comes down to training.”

The average Helm member is the founder of a business with annual revenues of £21m, underscoring the influence of scale-ups in shaping how AI is deployed across the UK economy.