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Who

Colin Carmichael is Client Partner at 4most Analytics and the commercial lead for AI. He brings a practitioner perspective on data, analytics, and AI adoption across financial services and enterprise.

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What is the core argument?

Scotland has world-class research, early AI talent, data-centre interest, and anchor corporates expanding north — but the outcomes do not match the inputs. Post-COVID momentum has not recovered, strategy is fragmented across too many priorities, and the global AI race is moving faster than Scotland’s current response. Without focus and execution, Scotland will miss the AI window.

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What are the key themes?

Momentum has slipped since COVID. Before 2020, Scotland’s fintech community had density and serendipity. Behaviour shifted online and has not fully returned. London regained its energy; Scotland has not. Geography still creates friction. Door-to-door Edinburgh to London takes seven hours. The north of England is building joint infrastructure and attracting AI investment. Scotland risks being further from the centre of gravity. Strategy drift and fragmentation. Scotland invests heavily in innovation structures — universities, data labs, CivTech, Techscaler — but tries to support everything rather than choosing a small number of priorities and executing them well. Few Scottish tech companies have reached meaningful exits in the past decade. Ambition gap. Scotland’s social policy mindset values inclusivity and fairness. Important — but it can dilute commercial ambition. Many founders settle for comfortable businesses once scaling gets hard. Structural barriers. Planning system delays across 32 councils slow infrastructure projects. Public-sector risk appetite limits startup access to pilots and contracts. The AI window. AI is the most significant economic opportunity Scotland has had in decades. Current AI policy emphasises safety and ethics — crucial, but not enough to compete internationally. Without using AI to drive efficiency and exportable products, Scotland will miss the moment again.

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What ideas were discussed?

  • Create a national AI use case shortlist — identify one to three high-value national problems large enough to shift the economy and narrow enough to deliver in 90 days. Planning approvals emerged as the strongest candidate, with massive economic multiplier and clear AI applicability.
  • Use the public sector as a deliberate scale engine — shift from small, low-budget pilots to medium-sized, commercially meaningful contracts (£100,000 to £500,000) that allow Scottish AI firms to scale. The public sector is Scotland’s largest buyer.
  • Create a Scottish working group within the UK Business AI Alliance — avoid creating a Scotland-only silo by plugging into where AI policy and industry demand are already accelerating.
  • Build a Scotland–North of England AI corridor — link Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle, and Doncaster. These regions already collaborate and have faster connectivity to each other than Scotland has to London.
  • Surface public-sector problem statements — publish a Scotland-wide list of AI-suitable challenges from all 32 councils and central government, prioritised by economic value and reusability.
  • Leverage cross-sector strengths — connect financial services, energy, and public sector as data-heavy sectors that can generate early AI wins for Scottish scaleups.

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Pledge

Colin Carmichael committed to establishing a Scottish working group within the UK Business AI Alliance to identify and develop one to two high-impact AI use cases that can drive economic growth in Scotland.

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