Becoming a ‘frontier firm’: how UK organisations build capacity to adapt, evolve and deliver
UK organisations, across both public services and commercial markets, are entering a new era where the most valuable capability is the ability to change direction quickly, safely and with minimal friction. Those already operating as such have been described as ‘frontier firms’ – entities that embed AI across the enterprise, connect data end to end and redesign processes so improvement becomes continuous rather than episodic. In this model, AI is not an add-on; it becomes the execution layer of how work gets done.
A frontier firm is not defined by sector or size, rather by mindset and execution. A frontier firm connects data, embeds AI across workflows, and operates with continuous improvement built into its operating model supported by strong data foundations and governance. Leaders of these organisations, who operate this way consistently realise greater value than those who treat AI as isolated pilots or one-off projects.
Why frontier firms matter in the current market
This represents a fundamental shift in how competitive advantage is created. Historically, organisations focused on optimising individual functions, deploying new technologies in silos, or running large-scale transformation programmes every few years. Frontier firms take a different approach. They connect employee productivity, customer and citizen engagement, core operations and innovation into a single, coherent operating model.
This shift is not theoretical, it is already reshaping operating models across industries. The urgency of this shift is particularly visible in the UK. Public sector organisations are being asked to deliver better outcomes despite constrained resources, complex legacy estates and heightened regulatory demands. Regulated industries such as health and financial services face increasing scrutiny, audit requirements and expectations of safe scaling. Meanwhile commercial organisations must respond to customers who now expect seamless, personalised experiences, all while keeping operating risk tightly controlled.
Information flows across the business, decisions are made with shared context, and outcomes are visible from end to end. AI is not added as an efficiency tool; it is embedded into how work gets done. Organisations that move beyond experimentation and embed AI into everyday workflows, with observability and trust, are the ones that sustain momentum.
For employees, this means a step change in experience. Frontier firms use AI across customer engagement, operations, product, security and support, producing better business outcomes not by adding more tasks but augmenting how people already work.
Importantly, this evolution marks a transition from AI acting primarily as a background assistant to an increasingly agentic era. AI no longer executes predefined workflows. It can operate with increasing autonomy, governed by clear identity, permissions, and access controls. Modern platforms provide the governance, monitoring and observability needed to scale safely. This shift is as much about building trusted infrastructure as it is about advancing intelligent capability.
At the consumer level, frontier firms rethink engagement from the ground up. Rather than fragmented interactions across phone, email, web and chat, they design a true digital ‘front door’. AI understands intent across channels, resolves straightforward enquiries immediately, and routes more complex cases intelligently before a human becomes involved. When advisors do engage, they have full context, including transcripts, history and suggested actions, removing the need for repetition and improving both experience and resolution times.
Reinventing operations, not just automating tasks
Frontier leaders go further than digitising legacy workflows. They re-engineer processes around AI through the core pillars identified by Microsoft – employee experience, customer engagement, process redesign and democratised innovation. The goal is sustained, repeatable progress, not isolated automation gains.
Instead of automating existing steps, frontier firms re-architect workflows holistically so AI handles document generation, triage, scheduling, exception handling and status updates, with humans orchestrating outcomes. Attempting to retrofit AI into outdated processes often stalls value; redesigning workflows for AI is where transformation accelerates.
This transformation can be understood across four connected pillars:
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Employee experience: from task load to judgement work
The practical value of AI is removing friction, searching, summarising, documenting and routing, so people spend their time where expertise, empathy and accountability matter most. In environments such as social care, housing or contact centres, this can mean reclaiming significant time that would otherwise be lost to manual processes. Staff gain instant access to summaries, histories and recommended next actions within their workflows.
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Customer and citizen engagement: reimagined, not just digitised
Frontier firms design a true digital front door where AI understands intent, resolves straightforward requests and routes complex cases with full context to advisors. The impact is measured not just in channel shift, but across experience, cost and outcomes. Engagement models are reinvented rather than simply digitised.
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Operations and process: AI-first by design
Legacy processes involving multiple handovers, paper-based steps or disconnected systems are redesigned to reduce cost, avoidable contact and duplication. AI agents and automations manage case routing, form generation, repair ordering, contractor scheduling and demand forecasting under human supervision.
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Trust, governance and observability: built in from day one
In the UK context, safe scaling is paramount. Governance, identity, access control and observability are foundational to the frontier model. This enables organisations to meet regulatory obligations while confidently scaling automation and AI agents. Security and auditability are not afterthoughts – they are enablers of sustainable innovation.
Bending the curve on innovation
Perhaps most importantly, frontier firms accelerate their capacity to innovate. Rather than relying on incremental digital improvements, they enable transformational change in how services operate.
Modern data platforms, unified digital foundations and AI-enabled patterns make experimentation faster and repeatable, embedding continuous innovation. Ideas can be tested, refined and scaled before complexity and cost accumulate, allowing organisations to adapt confidently.
Making the frontier achievable and safe
Most organisations are not starting from scratch. They operate complex legacy estates with critical systems, regulatory requirements and high service expectations. Wholesale replacement is neither practical nor desirable.
Becoming a frontier firm is therefore an incremental journey, reducing friction, connecting existing systems, embedding governance early and modernising responsibly.
CGI works with clients to engineer these outcomes by connecting strategy to execution, enabling you to think boldly and act pragmatically. We help organisations:
- Integrate AI, data platforms and automation with existing line-of-business systems while minimising disruption
- Lower the cost of change through repeatable, governed delivery models
- Align people, process and technology to create sustained transformation rather than one-off initiatives
- Embed identity, access, auditability and responsible AI from the outset
- Scale innovation safely in regulated, customer-facing environments
Where Microsoft defines the frontier architecture, we provide the organisational and technical pathways to reach it – safely and measurably.
The advantage of change
Frontier firms excel not because of the tools they adopt, but because they remove friction from progress. In a market defined by constant change, the ability to adapt, securely, responsibly and at pace, is becoming one of the most sustainable advantages of all.
Starting your AI transformation journey? Find out more about CGI’s AI Transformation offer here.
