{"id":8766,"date":"2026-11-04T00:01:56","date_gmt":"2026-11-04T00:01:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/scotland\/?p=8766"},"modified":"2026-11-04T13:19:19","modified_gmt":"2026-11-04T13:19:19","slug":"edinburgh-ai-consultancy-launches-programme-to-help-businesses-go-from-experimentation-to-adoption-at-scale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/scotland\/news\/8766-edinburgh-ai-consultancy-launches-programme-to-help-businesses-go-from-experimentation-to-adoption-at-scale","title":{"rendered":"Edinburgh AI consultancy launches scheme to help businesses adopt at scale"},"content":{"rendered":"

CreateFuture has launched a programme designed to help Scottish organisations move beyond artificial intelligence (AI) experimentation and accelerate adoption at enterprise scale.<\/p>\n

Drawing on industry partnerships with Anthropic, AWS and OpenAI, the consultancy firm is aiming to connect Scottish leaders with the world\u2019s leading AI labs and their latest models.<\/p>\n

The Scotland First programme is already under way, with its first senior leaders\u2019 dinner being held next month in Edinburgh, focusing on why most AI pilots never scale and what separates the ones that do.<\/p>\n

The new initiative is supported by Version 1, the Irish technology group that acquired CreateFuture in April<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Darren Dalrymple, industry director at CreateFuture and OpenAI codex ambassador for Scotland, said: \u201cScotland has an incredible opportunity with world-class universities, exceptional technical talent and established businesses operating on a global stage, but using AI and adopting it across an economy are two very different things.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe next challenge is helping Scottish businesses fundamentally rethink how they operate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Founded in Edinburgh 16 years ago – and now with offices in Leeds and London – CreateFuture has helped deliver AI into production for clients including NatWest, SSE, FanDuel, Skyscanner, Royal London and Aggreko.<\/p>\n

With around 200 people based in Scotland, the firm is an OpenAI ‘select partner’ and a preferred services partner of Anthropic; only one of five firms across Europe to hold this accreditation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not talking about this from the side-lines,\u201d added Dalrymple. \u201cRight now, inside some of the most complex and regulated businesses in the UK, we\u2019re seeing AI change how work actually gets done.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat means legacy systems modernised in weeks rather than years, software shipped in a fraction of the time it took previously – that\u2019s the gap Scotland needs to close, and we know how to close it because we\u2019re doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alongside regular tech meetups in Edinburgh and Glasgow, CreateFuture is also hosting hands-on OpenAI sessions and Claude events for teams wanting to get best practice for AI in a live environment.<\/p>\n

\"SNP

Minister for innovation, technology and tertiary education Alyn Smith<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

The launch comes as the Scottish Government brings together industry leaders to discuss how to realise the potential of AI for businesses.<\/p>\n

Estimates suggest AI could generate more than an additional \u00a323bn in annual GDP for Scotland by 2035, so innovation minister Alyn Smith met techUK chief executive Julian David and a roundtable of industry representatives at CodeBase in Edinburgh on Tuesday to hear directly from businesses about what is helping and what is holding back AI adoption.<\/p>\n

“Whether you are an established firm or a growing start-up, and whether you are curious, cautious or sceptical about AI, now is the time to explore what it can do for you,” said Smith. “Government can set the direction and help clear the way, but we need industry to tell us what works, what doesn’t and what would make the difference.”<\/p>\n

David added: “The opportunity AI offers Scotland is significant, but it will only be realised if businesses and government pull in the same direction.<\/p>\n

“By collaborating, we can help more businesses of every size make the most of AI.”<\/p>\n

Scotland’s AI Strategy is the government’s five-year plan to harness AI to drive responsible and inclusive growth. The National AI Adoption Programme for SMEs, backed by \u00a31.8m and launched in August, helps small and medium-sized businesses get started with AI and build confidence in using it safely and effectively.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Business leaders will be able to use the company’s connections to model-makers like Anthropic and OpenAI<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":278857,"featured_media":8767,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58124,50204],"coauthors":[137126],"class_list":["post-8766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-professionals","category-technology","tag-edinburgh-lothians","tag-featured-story"],"yoast_head":"\nEdinburgh AI consultancy launches scheme to help businesses adopt at scale<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Business leaders will be able to use the company's connections to model-makers like Anthropic and OpenAI.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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