Organizations currently using AI outperform those that don't by 11.5%. Despite this, only 24% have ... [+] an AI strategy in place.

Anew report, unveiled October 1 by Microsoft UK, claims thatBritish organizationsrisk being overtaken by their global counterparts unless the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technology is accelerated.

The report, conducted by YouGov andin partnership with Goldsmiths, University of London, focused on more than 1,000 business leaders and 4,000 employees, and includes interviews with leading industry experts fromorganizationssuch as M&S, NatWest, Renault F1Team, Lloyds Banking Group and the NHS. Its findings demonstratethat organizations currently using AI outperform those that don't by 11.5% but despite this, only 24%have an AI strategy in place.

The U.K. is also at risk of falling further behind the likes of the U.S. and China if attitudes to AI remain the same given that74% of the nations business leaders doubt the U.K. even has the socio-economic structures in place to lead in AI on the global stage.

Cindy Rose, CEO of Microsoft UK had a clear message for organizations that might be slow on the uptake of AI:

U.K. businesses and public sector organisations that forgo or delay implementing AI solutions risk missing the boat on driving down costs, increasing their competitive advantage and empowering their workers. Given this moment, where both U.K. leadership and competitiveness on the global stage is more vital than ever, there is no doubt that fully embracing AI-led digital transformation is a critical success factor for U.K. businesses, government and society.

AI In Healthcare

Microsofts report found that U.K. healthcare is actually at the forefront of AI innovation, with almost half (46%) of organizations reporting that they use AI. Last year saw an increase of 8%, with the biggest leaps made inresearch, robotic process automation (RPA) and other automation, as well as voice recognition and touchscreen technology. That said, primarily, AI is still restricted to small,localized pilotprojects, rather than big contracts.

A robotic arm for brain surgery is seen at the 2019 World Robot Conference in Beijing on August 20, ... [+] 2019. In healthcare, the biggest AI leaps have been made in research, robotic process automation (RPA) and other automation, as well as voice recognition and touchscreen technology.

Progressing thisexperimentation to full implementation will certainly require a culture-shift and the report identified some interesting challenges, namely:

Clearly, there are two main areas of significant improvement that organizations must focus on to increase uptake and value of AI: communication between staff and universal understanding of AI amongst theworkforce.

I spoke to Clare Barclay, chief operating officer at Microsoft UK about how Microsoft intends to address these conclusions and plans are already underway for an education program called the AI Business School:

We have developed the AI Business School, tailored for healthcare, to train healthcare professionals in a non-confrontational way. Were thinking about how we truly help leaders understand the technology, the culture, the strategy and the ethical implications.Someprogramswill be tailored for a specific customer, like a hospital, and outside of that we will be running a set of programmes in-store and at other locations across the U.K.Leaders willhear from other healthcare professionals, startups, technology providers etc. so they can understand and have meaningful conversations about AI. We've also committed to training 30,000 front-line staff."

Microsoft have committed to training 30,000 front-line staff and leaders at its AI Business School

Microsofts healthcare industry lead, Stephen Docherty, isfocused onensuringpractical benefits arise from this report. He was previously Chief InformationOfficer (CIO) at South London and Maudsley NHS Trust (SLAM) and knows the issues at thecoalfaceonly too well, as well as the benefits AI could bring if implemented correctly.

On the AI Business School, he says it will be important in enabling all healthcareworkersto have conversations that lead to change;talking in the language of value propositions, culture, data and ethics."Being from the front-line myself, I can see huge value in this if executed well.

Overall, for Docherty, the report was positive as it showed that people are beginning to use AI, but hes now keen to see the advantages at scale:

The biggest thing for me is around clinician time. When I was a CIO, I sawpeople having to feedcompliance information into multiple systems, using multiple logins, getting frustrated and burning out. Eric Topol talked about giving people inhealthcare the gift of time and AI can really make people's daily lives much better. But tomakethe most impact, everyone needs to be brought up to speed on AI; you need a clear digitalstrategy and then afocus onadoption.

Barclay and Docherty both describe howEast Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Truststarted using AI to reduce their admin burden. There was asense of fear among the workforce that the technology would displace jobs, however it took a significant amount of work away from their healthcare professionals,saving 4,500 hours for staff in the past 12 months. Importantly, this meant eyes off paperwork and eyes back onto patients for that time. Barclays favorite part of the story is that the AI system is now embraced as part of the team and has even beenhumanizedwith a name.Quirky, perhaps, but thisdoes point to importance of creating the right culture whilst implementing technology.

Dr Yeshwanth Pulijala is the founder of Scalpel, an emerging healthtech startup in the U.K. that uses A.I. (computer vision and data analytics) to reduce preventable surgical errors and improve operating room efficiency. He agrees with the report, has first-hand experience of the disparity in knowledge and experience of AI and has a lesson for AI companies in the healthcare space:

In my experience, the best way to achieve adoption of AI technology is to introduce frontline clinicians, patients and policymakers in the very early stages of product development. Ive only found a few hospitals in the U.K. so far that really understand the potential of AI at its core. They are our torchbearers and were piloting at six such hospitals to demonstrate improved levels of patient safety." On the AI Business School Pulijala says it would be a great way to scale this model.

To be effective, reports need to lead to action. Ive seen, read and even written recommendations that go unnoticed and are doing little more than collecting dust on shelves. Its now up to the relevant teams to deliver and its refreshing to hear Dochertys front-line, execution-focussed attitude at Microsoft to see themthrough to action:

Weve talked about it a lot. It's time to get on with it now."

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New Microsoft Report Claims U.K. Is Behind The Rest Of The World On AI - Forbes