Greater adoption of artificial agent intelligence could help revive Britain’s flagging economy, according to business and technology leaders speaking at an AI summit in the House of Lords.
The event, chaired by Steven George-Hilley, founder of Centropy PR, brought together senior figures from technology, law, financial services and cybersecurity to examine how AI is transforming economic growth, jobs and boardroom decision-making.
A central theme of the summit was the role of agentic AI systems, autonomous tools capable of responding to targets with minimal human intervention and giving small and medium-sized businesses access to advanced capabilities that were previously unattainable. Speakers argued that AI-driven sales, customer management and decision support systems could level the playing field for SMEs and enable productivity gains across the economy.
Participants also warned of a looming “skills cliff” as AI adoption increases, particularly among smaller companies that lack the resources to quickly retrain staff. Without targeted support, the UK risks widening the gap between large businesses and the SME sector, which makes up much of the economy, the summit said.
Rupert Osborne, UK managing director of Capital.com, said AI could play a crucial role in improving financial decision-making by making complex market data easier to understand.
“When used responsibly, AI can organize data, explain market movements and make uncertainty more visible, so decisions are based on context and risk, not just price,” he said. “Many people turn to traditional savings products because investing feels opaque or intimidating. AI can help provide the building blocks for a more practical approach to financial literacy in the UK.”
Cybersecurity was also high on the agenda, with speakers emphasizing that AI-driven transformation must be accompanied by robust protections.
Graeme Stewart, head of public sector at Check Point Software, said AI had the potential to transform public services such as healthcare and local government, but warned that security should not be an afterthought.
“We have already seen how ruthless hackers can be when it comes to targeting vulnerable organizations,” he said. “Cyber resilience must be built into AI strategies from the outset to ensure public trust and protect sensitive data as adoption increases.”
From a financial services perspective, Jan Tlaskal, chief data engineer at Galytix, argued that domain-specific, high-trust AI systems are becoming a strategic imperative.
“Given geopolitical fragmentation, increasing regulatory complexity and increasing compliance requirements, agent AI is not something to shy away from,” he said. “It is a strategic risk management advantage that can improve data accuracy, enable faster investment decisions and support sustainable growth.”
The summit concluded that while AI will inevitably transform workplaces and workflows, agent AI offers a significant opportunity to increase productivity and competitiveness, provided skills, safety and stewardship are treated as core priorities rather than secondary concerns.
