How AI Automation Boosts Productivity and Efficiency

I had been using artificial intelligence (AI) for my business sporadically, for specific use cases for a few years (currently 2025). But this started to transform when I understood how to add AI components together not relying on any one element in particular.  I use make.com but you can also user N8N which allows you to automate flows which can transform your day to day business.  It essentially makes support unique to your business versus paying for an app or SAAS product which will most likely only focus or manage one particular stream. An app or SAAS tool can be very helpful and save time, but it’s not as transformational as automating an entire process flow.

Having understood this and experienced it in practice within my business whilst also helping the founders I support set this up in theirs, I can see why organisations are increasingly turning to AI automation to streamline operations and enhance productivity and I can see how this is going to massively impact the way in which we do business, scale and the state of early stage investments.  This revolution is transforming how we work, it’s not a set and forget not a completely human-free process, but it does create opportunities for businesses to operate more efficiently whilst allowing their team or employees to focus on higher-value tasks.

So, starting from the beginning lets outline the basics:

The Transformative Impact of AI Automation

AI automation refers to the use of intelligent systems that can perform tasks traditionally requiring human intervention. Unlike conventional automation, AI-powered solutions can learn, adapt, and make decisions based on data analysis. This cognitive capability represents a significant leap forward from simple rule-based automation.

In the UK, where productivity growth has lagged behind other developed economies, AI automation presents a compelling opportunity and in particular my focus is on supporting female founders to use AI as in 2024 only 2% of VC money went to female led businesses! We need to take advantage of the opportunity that AI presents and what I have found to date – is that using it and deploying it in your business is the equivalent of getting a 200k investment! So I can see the state of investment shifting to Series A and beyond, keeping the early stage for Angels only and perhaps only to cover founder salaries!

The technology can analyse vast amounts of data, identify patterns, and execute routine tasks with remarkable precision and consistency, all whilst operating 24/7 without fatigue. Think marketing, lead generation, web development, onboarding, process management and executive assistants.

Empowering the Human Workforce

I believe in 3 years the job market in sales, marketing, finance and development will largely see job displacements.  So it is essential that all these roles embrace AI, and AI frees employees to focus on  creativity, emotional intelligence, and strategic thinking.

The Future Landscape

As AI technology continues to mature, we can expect to see increasingly sophisticated applications across a huge range of sectors. For UK businesses seeking to remain competitive in the global marketplace, investment in AI automation is going to rapidly become less of a nice to have and more of a necessity. This will have a huge impact on business and our day to day lives.  Businesses that integrate these technologies whilst maintaining the focus on human-centred design should stand to realise substantial improvements in both productivity, efficiency and growth!

AI automation is a powerful tool for boosting productivity and efficiency across virtually every sector of the UK economy.  I believe the key to success will lie not just in adopting the latest technology but in developing a clear strategy with Human input that aligns automation initiatives with performance based business objectives. AI automation can absolutely drive impressive improvements in  performance whilst opening up more time and energy into the day to day strategy and key business tasks.