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Navigating the AI Landscape: Consumer Trust and Technology Adoption

Market Movers: The Opening Bell

November 14, 2025

Video Transcript

Now let's check in on the latest headlines from Europe and the Middle East with Polly Jean Harrison, features editor of the FinTech Times.

She joins us from across the Atlantic this morning.

Hi, Polly, Happy Friday.

So let's start out by looking at Sterling Bank.

The bank has partnered with Small Business Britain to launch a year-long initiative designed to help women across the country start and grow their own companies.

So tell us a little bit more about this partnership and how it supports female founders.

Good morning, Remy, and happy Friday.

So yeah, this is a super exciting partnership from Starling Bank and Small Business Britain.

So this partnership is going to be featuring events, research, and a new free online training program called Female Founder Fundamentals, the definitive guide to starting and growing your business, which is all set to launch in early 2026.

So this initiative is really aiming to provide female founders with the skills, network, and the confidence to unlock their growth. at a time when the number of female founders in the UK has been declining.

So recent UK government research from 2024 shows that women led just 14% of SME employers, a figure that has declined steadily in recent years, despite, despite women making up around 30% of solo solo entrepreneurs, including indicating a significant untapped potential for scaling up.

So this partnership is all rooted in the recognition that greater support is needed for the UK's female founders.

It's all part of Small Business Britain's mission to boost the number of female entrepreneurs leading SMEs to 30% by 2030.

So this is a super exciting partnership, one that I was really excited to see coming into my inbox, and this program will consist of online masterclasses, peer peer learning opportunities, and generally just designed for women who have recently started their own business and will focus on building confidence, growth and financial skills.

Really exciting, and I cannot wait to see the results of this partnership as it moves forward next year.

Well, that is a partnership that we will keep a close eye on as well.

And moving on to research from PXP, it is revealing a high level of consumer caution with about 37% of people saying they wouldn't use AI shopping tools at all.

So tell us more about the findings and how do you think they impact the AI landscape.

Yeah, absolutely.

So this was a really interesting report.

I think we can all agree that AI is such a, a hot topic at the moment and of course people getting into the holiday season, starting their shopping.

I think it was just really interesting to see that in this PXP report, retail in the age of AI.

Uh, consumer willingness to engage with technology really varies significantly depending on the application, and there is a clear divide in consumer acceptance of AI tools, especially when it comes to shoppers.

So shoppers are really highly selective about whether they're willing to surrender control to automated systems, and among the respondents who are open to AI, the most appealing features generally include, you know, personalized product recommendations, price prediction tools, voice assistance, and visual.

Search.

However, in contrast, interest in a more advanced in-store technologies such as AI chat assistants, smart mirrors, and virtual trion kiosks was notably a lot lower.

So these findings really contrast sharply with internal AI adoption rates, with recent research showing that nearly all of UK retail decision makers currently using AI with 61% creating dedicated AI leadership roles to oversee strategy and implementation.

So, you know, this is really a An interesting one to bring into the landscape, especially as we're coming up to Christmas and the holiday season, and with that adoption being driven by necessity in the industry and it coming with, you know, rising costs, labor shortages, and really intense competition forcing retailers to deliver highly personalized seam experiences, but what this kind of research is saying is that technology alone cannot secure that long term loyalty that businesses really need to kind of get their consumer trust.

So I think This is a really interesting crossroads for the AI industry and one that I think we can definitely have a lot of more research on and more thinking on as we move into the new year.

But I think, you know, it's a clear thing that technology is not going to win their consumer loyalty and it's kind of a bit of a balance of both.

So I think this is going to be an interesting thing to watch as we come into the next year about AI and how it transforms and how people interact with it, and something that we definitely need to keep an eye on.

Well, definitely a fine balance there.

Pauly, thank you so much.

We will have to leave it there.

So as always, thank you so much for joining us and have a great weekend.

He right next time maybe.

Remy Blaire welcomes Polly Jean Harrison, the Features Editor of the FinTech Times, to discuss the latest headlines from Europe and the Middle East. The conversation begins with an exciting partnership between Starling Bank and Small Business Britain, aimed at empowering women entrepreneurs across the UK. Polly explains that this year-long initiative will feature events, research, and a new free online training program called “Female Founder Fundamentals,” set to launch in early 2026. The program is designed to provide female founders with the skills, network, and confidence needed to grow their businesses, especially in light of recent statistics showing a decline in women-led SMEs in the UK.

Polly highlights that recent UK government research indicates that women lead only 14% of SME employers, despite making up around 30% of solo entrepreneurs. This partnership seeks to address the need for greater support for female founders, with the goal of increasing the number of women leading SMEs to 30% by 2030. Polly expresses her excitement about the initiative, which will include online masterclasses and peer learning opportunities focused on building confidence, growth, and financial skills.

The discussion then shifts to a report from PXP, revealing a high level of consumer caution regarding AI shopping tools. Polly shares that about 37% of consumers are hesitant to use AI technologies, particularly as the holiday shopping season approaches. She notes that consumer willingness to engage with AI varies significantly depending on the application, with shoppers being selective about surrendering control to automated systems. While some consumers are open to features like personalized product recommendations and price prediction tools, interest in advanced in-store technologies, such as AI chat assistants and virtual try-on kiosks, is notably lower.

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