An AI summit held at the House of Lords has called for greater use of agentic AI to rejuvenate Britain’s sluggish economy.
Chaired by Steven George-Hilley, founder of Centropy PR, the summit brought together thought leaders from across the tech, legal, financial and cybersecurity sectors for a wide-ranging discussion on the challenges and opportunities presented by artificial intelligence. The group examined the economic impact of AI on job opportunities, as well as sounding alarm over the skills challenges facing smaller businesses.
Key themes explored were the role of agentic AI in giving SMEs better access to professional sales and customer management systems, as well as the crucial role technology will be play in unlocking economic growth. Attendees also warned of the looming “skills cliff edge” in Britian’s workforce, as artificial intelligence (AI) continues to reshape the economy and redefine boardroom priorities.
Rupert Osborne, CEO, UK of trading platform Capital.com said: “AI can play an important role in improving decision quality in investing by making complex market information easier to understand and by surfacing risk and educational material in a clearer, more structured way.
“Our research, which looked at the barriers to investing in the UK, shows that people value tools that are personalised to their experience level and learning needs. What they are looking for is better structure, clearer context, and a stronger understanding of risk, rather than predictions or promises about outcomes. And many investors want this at the point of decision making rather than long before.
“Used responsibly, AI can organise data, explain market movements, and make uncertainty more visible so decisions are informed by context and risk, not just price. This matters because investing can feel opaque or intimidating, leading many people to default to traditional savings products. AI can form part of the building blocks for a more tailored and practical approach to financial literacy in the UK.”
Cyber expert Graeme Stewart, head of public sector at Check Point Software said: “AI has the potential to completely transform every aspect of public services, particularly in areas like healthcare and local government, which will have a positive impact on communities across the country. It is encouraging to see the government outline bold and ambitious plans for substantial AI adoption, but these plans must be underpinned by a commitment to security and privacy standards to protect the wider public.
“We’ve already seen how ruthless hackers can be when it comes to targeting vulnerable organisations, regardless of the human cost. So cyber resilience must be built in to these investments, both in terms of strategy and software, to ensure data remains secure in the midst of AI rollouts across the public sector.”
AI expert Jan Tlaskal, Chief Data Engineer, Galytix said: “With the financial services sector facing an increasingly complex risk environment, fuelled by geopolitical fragmentation, regulations and compliance requirements, the role of domain specific AI to provide accurate data and high trust decision-making cannot be underestimated. Far from being a technology to shy away from, Agentic AI is a strategic risk management advantage – key to unlocking accurate risk assessment data, powering growth and enabling faster investment decisions.”
Image provided by Centropy PR
