A survey by AI Infra Summit of senior technology and business leaders found that most respondents have moved beyond AI pilot projects, while views were split on whether AI will expand or reduce headcount.

The survey covered 29 C-suite and vice president-level respondents from large companies. Attendees at the closed-door event included leaders from Amazon, Dell Technologies, FedEx, Hitachi, Lenovo, MasterCard, Mercedes-Benz, Wayfair and Zoom.

Almost all respondents said AI is now in active use rather than testing. The findings showed 95% of organisations had moved beyond the pilot phase, while 40% had embedded AI into core products and strategy.

Another 55% said they were running live AI use cases delivering measurable value, pointing to a shift from experimentation to operational deployment among the executives surveyed.

Hiring split

The results showed no consensus on AI’s effect on jobs. Some leaders expect the technology to support expansion or keep teams stable through higher productivity, while others expect it to reduce staffing needs.

In the poll, 14% said AI would lead to business expansion and net new hiring, while 38% expected to produce more with the same headcount. By contrast, 10% said they would replace a significant number of roles with AI agents, and 38% anticipated reducing headcount through AI automation.

That leaves 52% expecting teams to grow or remain the same size, versus 48% expecting a smaller workforce. The findings suggest senior executives see AI less as a uniform jobs story than as a trigger for broader organisational redesign.

Ed Nelson, strategy director and co-founder of AI Infra Summit, said participants were broadly optimistic. “The tone at the recent CEO event was positive – Fortune 500 and 1000 leaders were very bullish on the potential of AI and that it was nowhere near its peak,” Nelson said.

He also described changes some executives said were already taking place inside their businesses. “Some leaders were discussing how AI has already saved their organisations hundreds of millions of dollars. The consensus was that high-level discussions have moved on from whether AI works to understanding how agents can be used effectively. It was agreed that the real transformational benefits of AI will go beyond augmenting existing roles, to re-designing work to make it AI-native,” Nelson said.

Budget pressure

The survey indicated that AI spending is beginning to reshape broader technology budgets. More than a third of respondents said their organisations were cutting traditional IT spending to make room for AI investment.

Specifically, 36% said AI is cannibalising traditional IT spend. At the same time, 46% said their companies were securing new budgets earmarked for AI, suggesting many businesses are funding the technology through a combination of fresh investment and internal trade-offs.

The data also pointed to a common model strategy. Most respondents said their organisations use a mix of external foundation models and internally developed tools or layers.

That hybrid structure was cited by 85% of those surveyed, reflecting a preference for platforms from large providers while retaining some proprietary control. For large organisations, the approach may offer a way to use established models without giving up differentiation in products or internal processes.

Agents in focus

Views were more one-sided on agentic AI. Three-quarters of respondents said autonomous AI agents either live up to the current attention around them or are still underestimated.

Within that group, 50% said the hype was justified and 25% said agentic AI was under-hyped. A quarter said it was over-hyped, leaving a minority with the more sceptical view.

Nelson said the debate at senior level has moved beyond basic questions of viability. “At the event, the leaders were divided on what the future of work would look like. No one doubted the capabilities of AI, and they said that we are nowhere near the peak of its potential. Now the big question for them is how to transform their organisations for the AI era. Work will fundamentally have to be redesigned but the major blocker to this is the organisations themselves – it’s less about the technology, but rather their people and culture,” Nelson said.

Participants also discussed which workers may benefit most as AI tools take on more tasks. According to the event account, some leaders argued that broader problem-solving skills and adaptability may become more valuable than narrow specialisation.

Nelson linked that to the poll’s headcount findings. “The survey revealed that 52% thought headcount would either increase or stay the same. While there was 48% who thought it would decrease, no one was arguing that AI would result in a wholesale elimination of jobs. There was a lot of discussion about the types of skills that would be useful as more roles get augmented with AI agents. It was argued that generalists will prevail in this environment – those with lateral thinking, an open mind, the ability to analyse and make connections – rather than those with deep domain expertise,” Nelson said.

He added that the challenge for large companies goes beyond software deployment. “The jury is still out on what the implementation of AI means for the future of work for the world’s largest companies. This isn’t about sprinkling AI on top of poor processes, however. Integrating AI is a human resources issue, but it shouldn’t be framed as simply an upskilling and retraining exercise; it is a massive operational challenge as well,” Nelson said.

The event honours outstanding small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), innovators, and business leaders in Oxfordshire.

Entries are now being accepted following an extension to the deadline, now set for Monday, August 10.

Sarah Beal, business support service manager at Enterprise Oxfordshire Business, said: “Our track record of impact, combined with opportunities such as the Marketplace and Celebration Event, showcases the real value of engaging with Enterprise Oxfordshire Business.

“These platforms give businesses and entrepreneurs the chance to connect, showcase what they do and access the support that can help them take their next step with confidence.”

Held at Oxford Town Hall the marketplace and awards ceremony will take place on Wednesday, November 4.

The event brings together the county’s business community for an evening of networking, knowledge-sharing, and celebration.

It includes an exhibition marketplace and an awards ceremony.

The awards recognise achievements across categories such as Business Leader of the Year, Start-Up of the Year, and Growth Business of the Year.

Businesses or individuals who have engaged with Enterprise Oxfordshire Business since April 2022 are eligible to participate.

Entry is free across all award categories.

The annual event is part of Enterprise Oxfordshire Business’ ongoing efforts to support the county’s business community and promote commercial success.

Last year’s ceremony, also held at Oxford Town Hall, highlighted the value of connecting entrepreneurs, showcasing services, and celebrating business achievement.

The marketplace format gives businesses a space to present their services and connect with peers.

Earlier this year, the Growth Hub Cluster Impact Report highlighted the contributions of Enterprise Oxfordshire Business and similar hubs in neighbouring regions between April 2020 and March 2025.

During this period, the hubs collectively supported 92,719 businesses, delivered 178,563 hours of business support, and helped launch 3,934 new businesses.

They also helped to create 6,970 jobs and safeguard 6,093 positions.

For every £1 of core government funding, the cluster generated an additional £24 to support SME growth and delivered £35 in economic and social value.

Ms Beal said: “Events like this, alongside our wider Growth Hub support, demonstrate the real impact that targeted, accessible business support can have.

“Whether a business is just starting out or looking to scale, we want to encourage people across the county to engage with us, access support and be part of Oxfordshire’s growing business community.”

Enterprise Oxfordshire became the new trading name of OxLEP in April last year.

This followed a two-year transition and now operates under a Teckal company model with Oxfordshire County Council as its sole shareholder.

Details about award categories, sponsors, and exhibiting opportunities are available at www.enterpriseoxfordshirebusiness.com/marketplace-and-celebration-2026.

SOFIAH NICHOLE SALIVIO

News Editor

Only 12% of the UK’s 100 biggest eCommerce brands are ready for AI systems to complete purchases directly on shoppers’ behalf, according to Varn Search Marketing. The findings suggest broad gaps in preparedness for so-called agentic commerce.

The agency reviewed the country’s largest eCommerce sites to assess whether they were configured to let generative AI platforms carry out transactions. Its research found that most retailers examined were not set up for this form of automated shopping.

Among the brands identified as unprepared were M&S, Currys and Barbour. The smaller group classed as prepared included Ted Baker, Gymshark and Castore.

The study focuses on an emerging retail model in which AI tools do more than help consumers search for products. In this model, AI agents move through the purchase journey and complete checkout directly, with little or no manual input from the shopper.

That shift is not yet fully available to the public in the UK, but testing and phased rollouts are already under way in some markets. Varn said the timetable for wider access remains uncertain, even as work on autonomous checkout and agent-initiated payments continues.

US signals

The report points to signs from the US market that consumer behaviour may already be starting to change. It cites a Morgan Stanley survey from December 2025, which found that 23% of Americans had made a purchase via AI.

Morgan Stanley also estimated that AI-assisted shopping could account for USD $385 billion in US eCommerce spending by 2030. While that figure relates to the American market, it indicates the commercial expectations building around the technology.

For retailers, the issue is not only whether customers want to use AI shopping tools, but whether websites are technically open to them. Product feeds, site architecture and permission settings are likely to determine whether AI systems can identify items and complete transactions without being blocked.

Retailers that fail to adapt could face reduced visibility if shopping journeys increasingly move away from conventional search and browsing. If transactions begin inside AI interfaces rather than on traditional storefronts, access to those systems may become an important route to sale.

Readiness gap

Andy Mollison, Head of Search and Innovation at Varn Search Marketing, said: “Agentic commerce isn’t a distant retail trend; it’s an immediate paradigm shift that will catch unprepared brands completely off guard. Our research shows a staggering disconnect between the speed of AI development and UK retail readiness. At Varn, we are actively auditing and restructuring eCommerce sites to bridge this gap, ensuring their data architecture, technical SEO, and product feeds are seamlessly readable by autonomous AI bots. The American market has already given us a blueprint for how fast consumer behaviour shifts when AI handles the checkout. If UK brands don’t start optimising for machine-to-machine commerce right now, they will lose both search visibility and become entirely invisible to the next generation of shoppers.”

The findings add to a wider debate in retail and digital marketing over how AI will affect discovery, conversion and brand control. Ecommerce businesses have spent years refining websites for human visitors and conventional search engines, but agent-based shopping introduces a different set of technical and commercial questions.

One question is whether established retailers can adapt quickly enough if AI-led shopping gains traction. Another is how brands will manage pricing, merchandising and customer relationships if the shopper’s main interaction takes place through a third-party AI assistant rather than on the retailer’s own site.

Varn said its assessment covered the UK’s top 100 eCommerce brands. On its measure, only a small minority currently appear configured to permit direct purchases by generative AI platforms.