New research from SolarWinds, based on a survey of 210 UK public sector IT professionals spanning healthcare, government and defence, finds that AI adoption in public services is outpacing the governance and visibility controls required to manage it.
Only 8% of UK respondents say AI is fully embedded and actively governed across their IT environment. Around 51% say their organisation is fully or mostly compliant with the UK Government's Secure by Design principles, with just 16% reporting full compliance. Nearly a quarter (24%) say explicitly that AI governance is lagging behind the pace of adoption, with tools being deployed before clear policies are established.
The visibility gap compounds the governance gap. More than four in ten (41%) identify insufficient visibility into AI tool behaviour as a major cybersecurity vulnerability. While 84% monitor AI behaviour to some extent, only 29% describe that monitoring as comprehensive; and just 18% say they have comprehensive visibility across their entire IT environment.
The pressure is showing up in incident figures. Over the past 12 months, 44% of UK public sector IT professionals report an increase in AI-related security incidents or escalations.
The survey covered 810 public sector IT professionals globally, of whom 210 are based in the United Kingdom. The full report is titled Racing to Deploy: How Public Sector AI Adoption Is Moving Faster Than the Foundations Needed to Support It.
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