Businesses are holding back from great ideas due to lack of resources - but AI can help (www.techradar.com)

A new Google Cloud report finds UK SMEs are shelving game-changing ideas because they lack time and resources—59% of owners admit pausing projects—despite believing more time would unlock significant revenue. Google, alongside the Department for Business and Trade and NatWest, is launching a nationwide tour (Manchester, Leeds, Edinburgh, Cardiff) to show practical AI use cases aimed at boosting efficiency and innovation. The firms cite a potential 20% productivity uplift that could translate into roughly £198 billion of economic upside for UK SMEs if AI is broadly adopted. The research also highlights adoption bottlenecks: only 34% of UK workers use generative AI at work and about one in six use it daily, with lack of training a major barrier. Google’s report suggests a few hours of targeted training can double or triple GenAI usage, implying low-cost, high-impact upskilling could rapidly increase ROI. For the AI/ML community this underscores two priorities: build lightweight, trustable tools that integrate into existing SMB workflows and invest in scalable, pragmatic training and change management. Public–private partnerships, like this tour and government-backed programs, could accelerate adoption, bridge resource gaps, and turn deferred ideas into marketable innovations.