UK finance chiefs are ready to spend big on artificial intelligence, even as they slow down the hiring of new graduates. That is the picture from Deloitte's latest survey of the country's largest companies. Nearly all the finance bosses polled expect business spending on technology to rise over the next five years. Yet the same bosses name cost control as the main reason they are holding back on graduate hiring.
The split points to a clear priority. Money is flowing towards the tools that promise higher output, while the traditional route into work for young people is being squeezed. Deloitte's quarterly survey of UK CFOs, carried out between 1 and 13 July 2026, captured both sides of that trade at once.
