Artificial intelligence Adoption in Scottish Businesses: A Growing trend
Recent data from the Business Insights and Conditions Survey (BICS) reveals a growing trend of Artificial Intelligence (AI) adoption amongst Scottish businesses. While still evolving, the uptake is primarily motivated by a desire to enhance existing business operations.
The majority of businesses currently integrate AI through the purchase of external software or readily available AI technologies – a method utilized by 40.4% of adopters.This highlights the crucial role of specialized AI developers and experienced suppliers in making these technologies accessible. however, a notable increase is observed in in-house AI growth, rising from 13.7% in September 2023 to 22.1% currently, indicating a growing internal capability.
The primary driver for AI implementation is operational advancement, cited by 49.0% of businesses.This consistent trend across sectors suggests a focus on efficiency and cost reduction in response to current economic challenges. While personalization of products/services (13.9%) and new product/service development (7.8%) are also motivations, they represent smaller proportions of adopters. Importantly, the focus on operational enhancement suggests AI is being used to augment existing tasks rather than replace staff.
A significant 29.1% of businesses are currently unsure of the specific applications of AI within their operations, potentially reflecting the relative novelty of the technology for many scottish businesses and ongoing exploration of its potential.
Despite increasing adoption, challenges remain. The most frequently cited barrier to AI implementation is a lack of internal AI expertise (14.6%), followed by difficulty in identifying suitable business applications (10.6%). Though, a significant 42.9% of respondents report no barriers to adoption.
BICS data demonstrates a steady increase in AI uptake within Scottish businesses, largely driven by the need for operational efficiencies.while barriers related to expertise and submission identification persist, the reliance on external AI solutions emphasizes the importance of a strong supply chain and readily available expertise to facilitate wider adoption.
