An expanding group of British workers in sectors like healthcare, education and charity is now leading the adoption of artificial intelligence, as a new analysis shows the technology is no longer confined to the tech department.
Multiverse, a training platform that works with employers to deliver on-the-job skills in AI and data, has found that over two-thirds of people using AI in their roles are in professions not traditionally seen as tech-focused.
The analysis, based on more than 2,500 participants in its AI apprenticeship programmes, shows that nurses, librarians, fundraisers and surveyors are among the job titles most commonly applying the technology to real-world problems.
The company, which says it has trained more than 20,000 apprentices across the UK since 2016, said the findings revealed an “invisible AI workforce” quietly powering innovation across the country.
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AI use growing outside tech
The most common non-tech jobs using AI include lecturers, social workers, compliance officers, HR staff and charity professionals. These roles feature in a wider list of 50 occupations where AI tools are increasingly being used, despite not featuring the words “data”, “AI” or “tech” in the job title.
Multiverse said the data underlined how frontline workers, not just developers or engineers, are finding ways to embed AI into their day-to-day activities.
Euan Blair, the company’s chief executive, said practical use of the technology often came from outside traditional tech teams. “Clinicians and council workers are just as integral to driving AI adoption as software engineers and data analysts,” he said. “They are the ones finding practical ways to apply this technology to real-world problems, yet they’re often a second order consideration.
“The UK has all the ingredients to become the original AI-first nation but we can’t get there by restricting AI use to the tech department. Meaningful progress will only come from upskilling everyone.”
The analysis also challenges the notion that AI jobs are centred around London. While the capital remains a major centre, areas such as Trafford, Cheshire West and Chester, Leeds and Birmingham are emerging as hotspots for AI talent. In London itself, the borough of Croydon ranked top for AI apprentices.
A diverse AI workforce
The profile of those learning and applying AI skills is also changing. Multiverse found that nearly half (45 percent) of its AI apprentices are female, compared with just 22 percent of women in AI roles nationally. Ages span from 19 to 71, suggesting that the appetite to learn and use AI cuts across generations.
It reflects growing interest in making AI accessible and useful to people in all kinds of roles, not just early-career professionals or tech specialists.
A nurse at Barts Health NHS Trust in London has developed a tool to help patients who are unable to speak due to intubation or tracheostomies. The system uses gesture tracking and predictive text to interpret communications, offering a way for patients to express their needs and improving clinical decision-making.
The nurse said her experience in critical care gave her the insight to build a solution that meets patients’ real needs, and that AI training had given her a new tool in her clinical toolkit. “Effective AI solutions in healthcare have to be driven by frontline clinical needs,” she said. “My experience in critical care means I understand the requirements of my patients, and now AI skills have essentially given me a new clinical tool to address their needs.”
Another example is a fundraiser at learning disability charity Mencap who built an AI assistant that searches the organisation’s knowledge base to provide faster answers to the 7,000 queries it receives each year about wills and trusts. The tool not only saves time but also supports team members with learning disabilities by making information easier to access.
Elsewhere, an academic at the University of Manchester is using AI to streamline research admin, while a small business owner in joinery is using it to automate health and safety compliance and client communications.
Implications for employers and policymakers
With an estimated 12 million people in the UK working in occupations at high risk of automation, according to the National Foundation for Educational Research, there is growing pressure to widen access to reskilling and ensure AI is embedded across the economy.
Multiverse said employers that succeeded with AI adoption were those that integrated skills development into every team, not just IT. The company has pledged to train a further 15,000 AI apprentices by 2027, targeting people in any role or career stage.
The government has also expressed interest in expanding access to AI skills, particularly as part of its wider plans to improve productivity and support regional growth. But critics say more funding and incentives may be needed to ensure training reaches beyond the digital industries.
Multiverse has partnered with more than 1,500 organisations, including NHS Trusts, local authorities, universities and charities. Its model combines applied learning with coaching and workplace projects, and the company claims its apprentices have already delivered over $2 billion in measurable returns for employers.
AI beyond the tech silo
The findings come amid broader debate about what constitutes “AI talent” and how to prevent a narrow definition from limiting the UK’s innovation potential. Blair said meaningful progress required the upskilling of entire workforces, not just software developers.
That perspective is gaining traction across industry and government, particularly as AI becomes embedded in everyday systems, from HR to logistics to patient care.
While some experts have raised concerns about overuse or poor implementation of AI tools, many observers say frontline staff are well placed to judge where the technology adds real value.
