Business technology adoption spans foundational systems such as cloud computing and specialised software, as well as artificial intelligence, robotics, data analytics and connected devices. The figures below distinguish economy-wide prevalence, timing among adopters, conditional adoption and restricted survey subgroups.
Key Business Technology Adoption Statistics
The most broadly useful figures are:
- In 2023, 69% of UK businesses with at least 10 employees adopted cloud-based computing systems or applications.
- In 2023, 61% of UK businesses with at least 10 employees adopted specialised software.
- In 2023, 9% of UK businesses with at least 10 employees implemented artificial intelligence in business methods or processes.
- In 2023, 4% of UK businesses with at least 10 employees adopted robotics.
- In 2023, 38.9% of EU companies with more than 10 employees used cloud computing services.
- In 2023, 57.7% of EU SMEs reached at least a basic level of digital intensity.
- In 2023, cloud adoption among large Finnish enterprises was 99.1%.
- In 2023, cloud adoption among small French enterprises was 23.2%.
- In 2023, 9% of UK service firms and 5% of UK manufacturing firms adopted AI.
- In 2023, 14% of UK manufacturing firms and 3% of UK service firms adopted robotics.
- Between 2020 and 2022, 68.0% of U.S. businesses that adopted technology reported adopting AI during 2021–2022.
- Between 2020 and 2022, 51.8% of U.S. businesses adopting cloud technology cited improving process quality or reliability as a motivation.
- In 2023, 39% of UK firms reporting an AI barrier cited difficulty identifying activities or business use cases.
- In 2023, 88% of UK firms in the top management-practice decile adopted at least one of five advanced technologies.
- In 2023, UK technology adopters were associated with 19% higher turnover per worker after controls.
- In 2023, 91% of UK firms using AI also used cloud-based computing systems or applications.
- In 2023, the UK MES projected AI adoption to rise from 9% to 22% in 2024, making the latter a plan rather than a confirmed outcome.
- In 2023, 18% of OECD D4SME surveyed businesses reported generative-AI use less than a year after public availability.
- In the Western Balkans, AI adoption rose from 29% among SMEs using one digital tool to 80% among those using six or more tools.
- In the 2023 OECD D4SME survey, only 18% of reporting SMEs said they were knowledgeable about government support for digital-tool adoption.
Contents
- Business technology adoption rates
- Business technology adoption trends by firm size and country
- AI, cloud and digital-tool adoption by industry and business type
- Why businesses adopt technology
- Digital maturity and business technology adoption
- Business technology adoption outcomes and future plans
Business Technology Adoption Rates: Cloud, Software, AI and Robotics
The ONS measures implemented use in business methods or processes. Its 2023 UK population covers production and services firms with at least 10 employees, excluding agriculture, forestry, fishing, and financial and insurance activities; firms that only tested a technology were not counted as adopters. ONS, “Management practices and the adoption of technology and artificial intelligence in UK firms: 2023”
| Technology | UK adoption in 2023 |
|---|---|
| Cloud-based computing systems and applications | 69% |
| Specialised software | 61% |
| Specialised equipment | 36% |
| Artificial intelligence | 9% |
| Robotics | 4% |
These rates show a large difference between established digital infrastructure and narrower technologies. Cloud and specialised software were reported by majorities of covered UK firms, while implemented AI and robotics were single-digit measures.
The U.S. Annual Business Survey uses a different denominator for its timing results: employer businesses with at least one paid employee that reported adopting the surveyed technology. These are not economy-wide prevalence rates.
- 68.0% of U.S. adopting businesses reported adopting AI during 2021–2022, for adoption timing spanning 2020–2022.
- 40.0% reported adopting cloud-based technology during 2016–2020.
- 27.0% reported adopting specialised software during 2016–2020.
- 23.6% reported adopting specialised equipment during 2016–2020.
- U.S. robotics adoption timing ranged from 23.6% to 26.9% across the 2016–2022 periods reported by the ABS; the Census Bureau reported no statistically significant difference between the period shares.
Business Technology Adoption Trends by Firm Size and Country
The European Commission reported that in 2023, EU companies with more than 10 employees had 38.9% cloud adoption, 33.2% data-analytics adoption and 8.0% AI adoption. The same Digital Decade indicators found that 57.7% of EU SMEs reached at least basic digital intensity, defined as using at least four of twelve selected technologies or digital practices.
Country data show how strongly enterprise size can matter. The OECD table uses national ICT business statistics harmonised by OECD, and its latest available year is not identical across every country and indicator.
| Country, 2023 | Small enterprises | Medium enterprises | Large enterprises |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austria cloud adoption | 42.5% | 62.6% | 84.9% |
| Belgium cloud adoption | 47.1% | 67.7% | 88.2% |
| Czech Republic cloud adoption | 42.9% | 60.0% | 78.9% |
| Finland cloud adoption | 75.0% | 91.5% | 99.1% |
| France cloud adoption | 23.2% | 41.2% | 67.2% |
| Hungary cloud adoption | 41.2% | 61.3% | 85.8% |
The size gradient is visible in every country listed: large enterprises had higher cloud adoption than medium enterprises, and medium enterprises had higher adoption than small enterprises. These country observations should not be treated as a single global firm sample.
OECD, “OECD Digital Economy Outlook 2024, Volume 2: Statistical Annex”
European Commission, “The State of the Digital Decade 2024”
AI, Cloud and Digital-Tool Adoption by Industry and Business Type
In the UK, adoption varies by technology and industry rather than moving in one direction for every measure. Service firms reported 9% AI adoption in 2023, compared with 5% among manufacturing firms, while manufacturing led in physical technologies.
- UK manufacturing firms adopted specialised equipment at 64%, compared with 31% of service firms, in 2023.
- UK manufacturing firms adopted robotics at 14%, compared with 3% of service firms, in 2023.
- Only 3% of UK firms with 10–19 employees adopted robotics in 2023, versus 16% of firms with at least 250 employees; this comparison is specific to robotics.
The OECD data also provide technology-specific country observations. Among Australian enterprises with at least 10 employees, cloud adoption was 72.4% in 2022 and IoT adoption was 12.8% in 2022.
Among Finnish enterprises with at least 10 employees, cloud adoption was 78.3% in 2023, while IoT adoption was 40.5% in 2021; those Finnish figures use different reference years.
Western Balkan results are narrower survey estimates. Among SMEs deriving more than 80% of revenue from exports, cloud adoption was 41%, while ERP and CRM adoption were each 18%.
Among respondents already using at least one digital tool, 48% reported any AI use; the denominator was digital-tool users, not all SMEs.
Within that AI-type question, 30% reported generative AI, 9% custom AI systems and 9% AI tools with embedded machine-learning functions. Multiple responses were allowed, so those percentages do not sum to 100%.
OECD, “Uptake of digital tools among SMEs: Western Balkans Enterprise Survey”
Why Businesses Adopt Technology: Motivations, Costs and Barriers
The U.S. ABS records reported motivations among adopting businesses, not measured causal effects. Respondents could select multiple reasons.
| Technology adopted by U.S. businesses | Reported motivation, 2020–2022 |
|---|---|
| Cloud-based technology | 51.8% cited improving process or method quality or reliability |
| Specialised software | 49.8% cited improving process or method quality or reliability |
| AI | 45.8% cited improving process or method quality or reliability |
| Specialised equipment | 49.8% cited improving goods or service quality or reliability |
| Robotics | 50.8% cited automating tasks performed by human labor |
For UK firms considering AI, the most common reported barrier in 2023 was difficulty identifying activities or business use cases, cited by 39%. Cost was cited by 21%, and insufficient AI expertise and skills by 16%; these are self-reported barriers and do not establish which obstacle prevented adoption.
The motivations and barriers describe decision context, not a guaranteed return on investment. In particular, the U.S. percentages are among relevant adopters and the UK barrier percentages are among firms reporting the barrier.
Digital Maturity and Business Technology Adoption Data
Management quality and the breadth of existing digital tools are associated with higher adoption in the supplied surveys. The UK comparison is by management-practice decile: 88% of firms in the top decile adopted at least one of five advanced technologies in 2023, compared with 51% in the bottom decile, but the association does not prove that management practices caused adoption.
The Western Balkans survey found a similar cross-sectional relationship with digital-tool breadth. AI adoption rose from 29% among firms using one digital tool to 80% among firms using six or more tools; this is not a longitudinal adoption pathway.
Firm age also separated some results. Western Balkan firms established after 2020 reported 49% generative-AI use, while ERP adoption was 5% among firms established after 2020 versus 17% among firms established before 2015.
These are observational subgroup comparisons, and firm age may correlate with sector and size.
The EU’s basic digital-intensity measure offers another maturity lens: 57.7% of EU SMEs reached the threshold in 2023, where the threshold means at least four of twelve selected technologies or digital practices. It should not be confused with adopting one particular technology.
Business Technology Adoption Outcomes, Importance and Future Plans
Measured outcomes are limited and must be read with their study designs. UK technology adopters were associated with 19% higher turnover per worker after controls for management-practice scores and firm characteristics; this is an adjusted association, not proof that adoption caused higher turnover.
Conditional adoption also shows how technologies can cluster:
- In 2023, 91% of UK firms using AI also used cloud-based computing systems and applications.
- In 2023, 83% of UK firms using AI also used specialised software.
- In 2023, only 12% of UK firms using specialised software also used AI; this denominator is specialised-software adopters, so it is not equivalent to the 83% conditional rate.
In the U.S. ABS, 59.0% of businesses rated cloud-based technology very important to their processes or methods, 58.9% rated specialised software very important, and 57.4% rated specialised equipment very important during the 2020–2022 adoption-impact reference period. These are respondent assessments, not audited productivity measures.
The ONS MES projected UK AI adoption to rise from 9% in 2023 to 22% in 2024. The 22% figure is a plan for the following year, not a confirmed 2024 outcome.
The OECD D4SME survey covered SMEs using online platforms across surveyed geographies, so its figures are not general SME prevalence estimates. In 2023, 18% of surveyed businesses reported generative-AI use less than a year after public availability, 26% said they embedded AI in main operations or products, and 35% of mostly digitalised businesses reported using AI applications.
Among OECD D4SME respondents, 57% had a positive view of generative AI’s impact on business operations. Environmental-performance monitoring was reported by 59% of Europe-4 businesses, compared with 38% in Japan and 31% in both the United States and Korea; Europe-4 means Germany, France, Italy and Spain.
Only 18% of reporting SMEs in the OECD D4SME survey said they were knowledgeable about government support for digital-tool adoption. In the Europe-4 subgroup, 27% of respondent businesses said they were aware of available government support for digitalisation; awareness does not indicate whether support was accessed.
OECD, “SME digitalisation in 2024: Managing shocks and transitions – An OECD D4SME Survey”