Section 1: Everyone is using AI

The evolution of AI

Whilst AI and machine learning have been in use for many years, it was in 2023, after the Covid pandemic subsided, that it became clear that something very significant was occurring. Talk of future ‘potential’ uses of AI had transformed into discussion of what was already happening and how to respond to it. Later that year the UK’s Financial Reporting Council moved swiftly to publish a brief Insight Report addressing ESEF, the new digital reporting requirement for listed companies.  The report made suggestions to optimise reporting approaches that included digital-first reporting. This pathfinder inevitably gave rise to as many questions as it answered and there was a sense that it was still early days and that more needed to be explored.

In 2024, the Bank of England published research showing that, when surveyed, 75% of financial firms were already using AI to analyse company information and another 10% expected to do so by 2027. For the surveyed community the highest perceived benefit from AI was the data and analytical insight that AI can provide. The report emphasised the volume of separate AI use-cases, with the median number of 9 use cases per organisation. For large international banks, AI had made extensive inroads – the median was 49 use cases.

The effect of the uptake by financial firms is widespread – it is estimated that three quarters of adults in the UK participate in a pension plan and the people managing the underlying investment funds have been using AI for some time now. 2024 already feels like a long time ago – within the financial community the use of AI will surely have increased, probably very significantly.

Whilst it is clear that financial firms are using AI in a variety of ways, corporate reports have a wide range of other audiences to serve. This summary of an academic study sets out the diverse profile of readers of digital annual reports – it included employees, (25% of all users) students and job applicants (14.5%), customers (8.2%) and sustainability experts (4.4%), and suppliers (4%). Another recent study, also showed that 55% of retail investors use AI platforms for guidance.

In short, there is a broad range of users seeking relevant information and AI is often the primary access route.

Zero-click searches

Each of these user groups will, in practice, recognise the rise of the zero-click search phenomenon. This is where AI-generated answers at the top of a search engine enquiry means people do not necessarily click through to a link provided from their search. They have the answer they needed and so move on without ever visiting the source website. This article explains how prevalent the zero-click approach has already become – in 2025, 60% of searches were zero-click. For searches made using a mobile device, the percentage was 77%.  In this way, AI is becoming a foundation for how people obtain information whether for work, investing or indeed any other purpose.

At Reportl, our own analytics collated from multiple reports and thousands of users also show their preference for digital reports. For reports published in digital-first format, 85% of visitors from search engines choose to view the HTML version of the report first, instead of the PDF. Interestingly, this data also shows how important PDF remains to stakeholders – about 30% of those who first view the HTML version then go on to download the PDF.

With AI use so prevalent, the next section sets out why AI tools can find, read and understand digital-first reports so well.