AI Adoption Surges Ahead of Governance Across the UK Public Sector

Only 8% of UK public sector IT professionals say AI is fully governed, while just 16% report full compliance with Secure by Design principles

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--New research from SolarWinds, a leading provider of simple, powerful, secure observability and IT management software, reveals a gap between AI adoption and consistent governance in the UK public sector. While AI tools are being deployed at pace, many organisations have yet to establish the policies, oversight and visibility needed to manage them effectively.

The report, titled Racing to Deploy: How Public Sector AI Adoption Is Moving Faster Than the Foundations Needed to Support It, is based on a survey of 810 public sector IT professionals across the UK and the US. Over 200 are based in the United Kingdom, working across healthcare, government, and defence.

Security foundations lag behind AI adoption

The UK Government’s AI Playbook positions AI as a key enabler to deliver more with less, while also stating that government AI services must comply with Secure by Design principles. However, SolarWinds’ findings suggest that security foundations are still developing. Around half (51%) of UK respondents say their organisations are either fully or mostly compliant with Secure by Design principles, with just 16% reporting full compliance.

AI governance isn’t keeping up

The gap extends beyond security into AI governance itself.

Nearly a quarter (24%) of UK respondents explicitly say that AI governance is lagging behind the pace of adoption, with tools being deployed before clear policies are established. Only 8% say AI is fully embedded and actively governed across their IT environment.

Although 30% have a formal AI governance framework that’s actively enforced, a further 29% say implementation remains incomplete or inconsistent. Collectively, the findings suggest that many organisations recognise the need for AI governance but are still struggling to apply it consistently in practice.

Commenting on the findings, Rich Giblin, Head of Public Sector and Defence at SolarWinds said, “Public sector technology underpins services that millions of people depend on every day, so gaps in governance can have serious consequences far beyond the IT department. When AI is helping to run such essential services, getting it right matters to everyone.”

Blind spots in AI visibility

But inconsistent governance is only part of the challenge, as effective oversight also depends on teams being able to see how AI behaves once it’s deployed. More than four in ten (41%) identify insufficient visibility into AI tool behaviour and activity as a major AI cybersecurity vulnerability. While 84% monitor AI behaviour to some extent, only 29% describe that monitoring as comprehensive. More broadly, just 18% say they have comprehensive visibility across their entire IT environment.

Those concerns come as AI-related security pressures increase. Over the last 12 months, 44% of UK public sector IT professionals say they have seen an increase in AI-related security incidents or escalations.

Giblin added, “Public Sector organisations have embraced AI as a way to drive efficiency and improve outcomes. That’s understandable in an environment where teams are under constant pressure to deliver more with limited resources, but governance needs to develop at the same pace as adoption.

“Once AI is inside an organisation, public sector teams need a clear view of what it’s doing, what it can access, who’s responsible for it and how it interacts with the wider environment.

“Putting the brakes on innovation should not be the goal. Secure by Design provides a strong foundation, but its principles need to translate into clear ownership, consistent controls and visibility in practice. The public sector has opened the door to AI. It now needs to make sure the house rules are clear.”

To learn more about the findings, visit: https://www.solarwinds.com/campaign/public-sector-ai-readiness-report

Methodology

The findings in this report are from a SolarWinds public sector survey of 810 respondents, with questions covering AI adoption, governance, and system visibility within IT for public sector organisations. The sample includes 210 UK respondents from across all forms of government, national healthcare and defence sectors.

About SolarWinds

SolarWinds is a leading provider of simple, powerful, secure observability and IT management software built to enable customers to accelerate their digital transformation. Our solutions provide organisations worldwide—regardless of type, size, or complexity—with a comprehensive and unified view of today’s modern, distributed, and hybrid network environments. We continuously engage with IT service and operations professionals, DevOps and SecOps professionals, and database administrators (DBAs) to understand the challenges they face in maintaining high-performing and highly available hybrid IT infrastructures, applications, and environments. The insights we gain from them, in places like our THWACK community, allow us to address customers’ needs now and in the future. Our focus on the user and our commitment to excellence in end-to-end hybrid IT management have established SolarWinds as a worldwide leader in solutions for observability, IT service management, application performance, and database management. Learn more today at www.solarwinds.com.

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