British workers are spending close to £1 billion a year from their own pockets on generative AI (GenAI) tools they use for work, according to major new research from Deloitte UK.
The findings come from Deloitte UK’s inaugural GenAI Workforce Survey, the largest study of workplace GenAI use conducted in a single country. Based on responses from 25,000 workers across the UK, collected between 7th May and 10th June 2026, the research reveals how employees are really using GenAI* in their jobs and how organisations are responding. The survey will be repeated every six months to monitor how usage evolves as the technology becomes more widely adopted.
The launch survey found that 63% of UK working adults aged 18-70 say they knowingly use GenAI for work. When asked to describe what types of GenAI tools they are using, nearly half (46%) say they are using free tools at work, 34% say they are using external tools paid for by their employer and 17% say they are using in-house tools. In addition, one in six (17%) GenAI users pay for at least one GenAI tool themselves for work purposes. Deloitte estimates annual personal spend among UK workers is £958 million.
Prompt first, permission later: workers race ahead on AI
The survey suggests workers using GenAI are embracing the technology more quickly than many organisations are making tools available. Nearly a third (31%) of GenAI users say they use GenAI without their employer’s knowledge, also known as shadow AI, and bring their own GenAI tools to work, while almost a quarter (24%) of UK workers now use GenAI tools every day for work. Many GenAI users (65%) also report a lack of convincing leadership on how GenAI should be used in their organisation.
Workers save time with GenAI but fear being judged for using it
The UK workforce claims to be saving, on average, 70 minutes a week using GenAI tools at work and most of the time saved is used for doing more work for the same employer. Yet nearly a quarter (23%) think there is a stigma attached to using GenAI in the workplace while two thirds (64%) of weekly users are worried managers will think GenAI can do their jobs.
AI use is widespread, but workers are only scratching the surface
The Deloitte UK research also indicates that GenAI users are largely using the technology to support everyday work activities with the top three use cases being searching for information (43%), drafting emails (43%) and creating summaries (31%). At the same time, around half of the employees who use GenAI at work say they have received no formal training on how to use AI safely and effectively in the workplace.
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