UK Organisations Could Unlock £40bn a Year in Productivity Value by Closing the AI “Grey Zone”
•February 11, 2026
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Why It Matters
Aligning AI with real‑world work unlocks massive economic value and safeguards talent, making it a strategic imperative for UK firms.
Key Takeaways
- •Leaders report AI use; only 61% employees actually use it.
- •Better AI alignment could free 8% staff time (£40bn).
- •Misalignment reduces trust; 40% want transparent AI to stay.
- •69% employees want AI for routine tasks, leaders 44%.
- •20% leaders expect 7‑10% cost cuts (£20bn).
Pulse Analysis
The Zellis report shines a light on what analysts are calling the AI "grey zone" – a disconnect between executive confidence in AI deployment and the day‑to‑day experience of employees. Survey data reveal that while almost all senior leaders claim AI tools are in place, a sizable minority of workers either lack access or do not feel involved in decision‑making. This misalignment hampers adoption, erodes trust, and limits the technology’s ability to streamline routine processes such as data entry, which 69 % of staff say should be automated.
When the gap is closed, the financial upside is striking. By freeing just 8 % of the annual labour pool – an estimated 1.7 billion hours – UK enterprises could generate roughly £40 billion in redeployable staff value. Leaders also project a further £20 billion in operating‑cost reductions, equivalent to a 7‑10 % efficiency gain. These figures underscore that AI’s true ROI lies not in headline adoption rates but in purposeful integration, upskilling, and transparent governance that align tools with actual workflow demands.
For business leaders, the message is clear: investing in AI alignment is as critical as the technology itself. Companies that embed AI into HR, payroll and workforce management with employee involvement can boost productivity, lower turnover, and future‑proof their talent pipelines. Zellis positions itself as a partner in this transition, offering platforms that combine AI insight with people‑centric design. As AI expectations rise – with two‑thirds of staff anticipating broader access within two years – firms that ignore alignment risk losing talent to more agile competitors and missing out on a potential £60 billion annual uplift.
UK Organisations Could Unlock £40bn a Year in Productivity Value by Closing the AI “Grey Zone”
**New research from Zellis reveals that UK organisations could unlock £40 billion a year in productivity gains, and a further £20 billion a year in operating‑cost savings through better AI alignment between leaders and employees. The findings are published today in The Grey Zone: The Untapped Advantage of AI Alignment.
The AI Grey Zone
The report uncovers a considerable gap between how leaders believe AI is used and how employees experience it day‑to‑day. Zellis describes this area of mis‑alignment as an AI “grey zone”, where adoption is widespread but impact, confidence and usage are uneven.
Key findings
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94 % of business leaders surveyed say their organisation uses AI tools, but only 61 % of employees say they use AI in their role.
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Employees are far more likely to want AI applied to routine, administrative tasks: 69 % say basic data entry and checking should be AI‑led, compared with 44 % of leaders.
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Leaders are more likely to want AI used in higher‑stakes decisions: 35 % of leaders believe promotions and pay decisions should be AI‑led, compared with only 8 % of employees.
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63 % of leaders whose organisations use AI say they involve employees or teams in decisions around its use – but only 40 % of employees using AI agree they feel involved, and a third (33 %) disagree that they’re involved.
Unlocking billions for businesses
Better AI alignment, adoption and integration in the workplace represents an immense, untapped productivity and cost‑saving opportunity.
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Three‑quarters of employees (75 %) and leaders (74 %) believe productivity would improve if AI were better aligned with how work is actually done.
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Both groups estimate that around 8 % of working time could be redirected to higher‑value activities through more effective AI alignment. Applied across large organisations in the UK, this equates to an estimated 1.7 billion working hours a year, potentially worth around £40 billion in redeployable staff time.
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Leaders estimate that improved alignment could unlock a further £20 billion in potential operating‑cost savings. One in five (20 %) leaders say that better use of AI could cut operating costs by 7‑10 %, freeing up to £1 in every £10 to reinvest elsewhere.
“This research shows just how big the AI opportunity really is. When better alignment on AI could unlock up to £60 billion a year for UK organisations, leaving that value unrealised isn’t an option,” said Abigail Vaughan, CEO of Zellis. “The data makes clear this isn’t just about AI adoption, but about making sure AI is implemented with transparency and collaboration, and in ways that genuinely support how people experience work to reach their potential.”
Increasing AI expectations
Across the UK and Ireland AI is increasingly seen as integral to the workplace.
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A third (34 %) of employees said they expect their employer to provide access to AI tools that will help them do their job more effectively within the next year, rising to nearly two‑thirds (63 %) within the next two years.
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Almost half of leaders (47 %) say advanced digital and AI skills will be required in their organisation within the next year, rising to more than three‑quarters (77 %) within the next two years.
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74 % of leaders say employee upskilling will become increasingly important over the next two years.
Impact on retention, morale and wellbeing
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Two in five employees (40 %) say transparent use of AI would make them more likely to stay with their employer, while a similar proportion (42 %) say it would improve trust in leadership.
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51 % of employees and 59 % of leaders who use AI agreed AI reduces work‑related stress, rising to 62 % among employees aged 18‑34.
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Three in five (61 %) employees aged 18‑34 who use AI agreed it has helped them be more confident in their role.
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Younger employees are more open to AI leadership and engagement, with 58 % agreeing that their feedback on AI use is valued and acted upon, compared with 45 % of the wider workforce who believe senior leaders are using AI effectively, and only 40 % who feel involved in decisions about how it is used.
These changing expectations are being shaped by current use. Millennials and Gen Y are the most active users, with 69 % of those aged 29‑44 using AI at work and 27 % doing so regularly. As this generation becomes the backbone of the workforce and future leadership, their patterns of use are setting the standard for what “normal” looks like at work.
“As AI becomes a baseline expectation for performance, progression and job satisfaction, organisations that fail to provide the right AI tools and training risk losing the best talent and falling behind competitors,” said Steve Elcock, Director of Product – AI, Zellis.
“AI doesn’t fail because the technology isn’t ready; it fails when people aren’t. Our findings show employees are enthusiastic about AI when it’s used to remove friction from everyday work, but more cautious when it’s positioned as the decision‑maker in higher‑stakes areas like pay and progression. That isn’t resistance to AI, it’s about education and trust. When organisations are clear that AI is there to inform judgement rather than replace it, confidence grows, capability follows and value is unlocked. Alignment turns AI from a source of uncertainty into a catalyst for better decisions, better work and more resilient workplace cultures.”
“The findings show a clear advantage for organisations that focus on AI alignment, not just adoption. By embedding AI across HR, pay, WFM and benefits in ways that support people and build trust, employers can improve the speed and quality of their work and create stronger workplace cultures – an approach Zellis helps organisations to deliver,” said Vaughan.
“When leaders involve their people, communicate clearly and use AI to inform rather than replace human judgement, organisations can elevate their work and empower employees to be their best. There’s huge value to be gained through AI when attention is paid to alignment.”
The report includes comparative charts highlighting where leaders and employees diverge most on AI use, alongside visuals showing how the time and cost savings have been calculated from the survey data.
Notes to editors
Methodology
The research was conducted by Censuswide via online survey between 26 November 2025 and 3 December 2025. Zellis surveyed 500 UK employers and 100 Republic of Ireland employers, at director level and above aged 21 +, in companies with at least 1,000 employees. Additionally, Zellis surveyed 500 UK employees (up to, but not including, director level and in companies of at least 1,000 employees) and 150 Republic of Ireland employees aged 18 +. Censuswide is a member of the Market Research Society (MRS) and the British Polling Council (BPC), and a signatory of the Global Data Quality Pledge. We adhere to the MRS Code of Conduct and ESOMAR principles.
Figures in this report have been rounded to the nearest percent. Where nets are given in the report they have been calculated from the raw data (and therefore may be ± 1 % from simply adding up percentages).
Formulae – Explanation of calculations
Staff time: 1.7 bn hours
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Large UK businesses (250 + employees) employ roughly 11.1 million people, based on official business population estimates.
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Assuming a typical full‑time employee works about 2,000 hours a year (≈ 40 hours per week over 50 weeks), this gives a total annual hours “pool” of approximately 22 billion hours for large‑enterprise staff (11.1 m × 2,000).
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The survey data indicates that better‑aligned AI could free up 8 % of staff time for higher‑value work. Applying 8 % to the 22 billion‑hour pool gives around 1.7 billion hours of staff time that could be redirected each year (0.08 × 22 bn ≈ 1.76 bn, rounded to 1.7 bn).
Staff time value: £40 bn
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Using the same 11.1 million employees and an average fully‑loaded employment cost of about £45,000 per employee per year implies a national wage bill of roughly £500‑£520 billion (11.1 m × £45k, allowing for on‑costs).
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If 8 % of staff time can be redeployed, then 8 % of this wage bill represents the potential economic value of time that could be used more productively rather than wasted, which is around £40 billion per year (0.08 × ~£500 bn).
Operating‑cost savings: £20 bn
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Leaders in the survey estimated that about 4 % of their organisation’s operational costs could be saved if AI were better aligned with how work is actually done.
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To keep the calculation transparent, this aligns these operational costs to the same ~£500 billion large‑enterprise wage/operations base used above, a reasonable proxy for total operating expenditure in this segment.
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Applying the 4 % saving to this base yields an order‑of‑magnitude operating‑cost reduction of about £20 billion a year across UK enterprises with 250 + employees (0.04 × ~£500 bn).
About Abigail Vaughan, CEO at Zellis
Abigail Vaughan is an experienced board‑level executive with around 20 years’ leadership across payroll, HR technology and large‑scale operations, including senior roles spanning finance, shared services and customer delivery. She has led complex transformation programmes for major UK and international employers, regularly speaks on the future of payroll and work, and brings practical, hands‑on experience of using technology and AI to make workforce processes more agile, compliant and people‑centred.
About Steve Elcock, Director of Product – AI at Zellis
Steve Elcock leads the design of AI‑powered solutions that support HR, payroll and workforce teams. A technology entrepreneur and Cambridge‑trained neuroscientist, he has over 25 years’ experience in HR tech and regularly speaks and writes on how to apply AI responsibly in people‑focused organisations.
About Zellis
Zellis helps organisations unlock better outcomes by creating exceptional experiences for their people. As the UK and Ireland’s leading provider of HR, talent, workforce management (WFM), pay and benefits solutions, Zellis puts employees at the heart of every solution. Its tools give teams the insights, flexibility, and support they need to perform at their best. By removing barriers and embracing innovation, Zellis empowers organisations to reimagine what’s possible.
In 2025 Zellis integrated the capabilities of elementsuite and Hastee into a seamless experience, delivering a single, coherent system for the modern workplace. The end‑to‑end solution supports smarter, faster, and more confident HR, WFM, and Pay outcomes across the employee lifecycle.
Zellis serves 1 in 6 of Ireland and the UK’s working population. It was named Payroll Software Supplier of the Year at the Global Payroll Awards 2024 and 2025, and its HR and Pay solution has been recognised as Payroll Software of the Year (CIPP 2020, 2021, 2024) and has won the Payroll & HR Software Product Award (The Rewards 2019, 2021, 2023, 2024).
About Censuswide
Censuswide is a consultancy specialising in quantitative and qualitative market research for PR, marketing and insight purposes. Focused on delivering quick and robust data with an emphasis on quality and accuracy, Censuswide supports clients from the initial quote through to delivery and beyond, serving both consumer and B2B audiences internationally.
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