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IBM’ s UK & I CEO Leon Butler prioritises measurable returns and transparent models to drive business

Skills development features prominently.“ AI growth zones and skills augmentation across the entire UK and Ireland are crucial,” he says. IBM has established targets through its SkillsBuild program“ to skill up two million people in AI by 2026 and 30 million by 2030, open to everyone including schools and academia.”

Data sovereignty also requires attention in AI strategy development. Leon emphasises the importance of“ giving clients choice between cloud storage or running behind their firewall with complete data control.”

The potential economic impact justifies these investments, according to government projections Leon cites.“ The government believes £ 400bn( US $ 533bn) could be added to the UK economy by 2030 through AI. We have the technology to achieve this now.”

As Leon looks ahead to the future of AI adoption in the UK, his outlook blends optimism with pragmatism.“ I’ m passionate about this because we’ re just starting. People are playing with the technology, but focusing on specific use cases and implementing end-to-end processes is where you get real productivity gains. That’ s where you augment people to perform higher-level tasks. If we can reach that point across the UK and Ireland economy, it would be a genuinely great place to be.”

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