AI strategising is smart thinking, guest blog by Darren Auld, CEO and co-founder of ClearSky Logic

The flurry of activity around Scotland’s first National Innovation Week in late September and the FinTech Scotland Festival that ran alongside it showed that the conversation around AI and digital transformation has stepped up significantly over the last year.

And, in related news, it was encouraging to see the £1 million of Scottish Government funding for SMEs to introduce or expand the use of AI to develop new products and services, grow market share and attract new investment - delivered by Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, South of Scotland Enterprise, The Data Lab, and the Scottish AI Alliance.

Of course, the real engine of technological change in Scotland comes from our entrepreneurs and business leaders.  Scotland is a nation of problem solvers, known for achieving outsized global impact.  The next few years will reveal whether or not we can grasp the vast opportunities for innovation and growth offered by AI.

However, a report by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in August found that AI adoption is anything but straightforward.  Despite tens of billions of enterprise investment in generative artificial intelligence, AI pilot failure is the norm, with 95 per cent of corporate AI initiatives showing zero return according to academic powerhouse MIT.

So, if only about 5 per cent of AI pilots have made it into production with measurable value, what can businesses do to improve their chances of AI success?  At ClearSky, we talk about bringing AI to the data, by building small, purpose-built models that live securely within your organisation’s existing systems.

The focus needs to be on the back office, targeting structured, high-volume processes first in order to achieve clear and transformative return on investment (ROI).  We must embrace a ‘human in the loop’ model’, designing AI to augment human expertise.  This is how we can move beyond the hype and become part of the 5 per cent identified by MIT.

Essentially, are we brave enough to really think big about the radical change, innovation, and opportunity AI presents?

Last year, we polled SME leaders across Scotland on AI strategy and adoption.  While only around 1 in 2 of our business leaders had already invested in AI, almost 90 per cent planned to invest in AI.  One of the stark findings of the survey was that only 20 per cent of companies had trialled AI before implementing it.

When we engage with clients, partners and peers, we talk about a four pillar approach that helps to make the AI journey as effective as possible, while de-risking the investment as much as possible.  Companies need to identify their core challenge or challenges, utilise high quality data, test AI via pilot projects, and then continually evolve AI within their business.

Our SME AI survey also revealed the importance of having a strong AI strategy in place.  Without a strategy that aligns across every aspect of your business, AI is more likely to lead problems rather than solutions.

As we go out with this year’s AI survey shortly, it will be interesting to see how the dial has moved in 2025.

Scotland's tech moment, guest blog by Jon Hope, Chief Strategy Officer, CodeBase

Writing for a national newspaper op-ed last week, Professor Mark Logan wrote that Scotland’s tech startup sector is perhaps in its “most vibrant state in living memory”. “There’s a greater buzz, confidence and ambition”, continued Logan, and “outside the country, others are looking at Scotland anew”.  

The numbers back Professor Logan up.  2025 began at record pace, with research indicating that more than £100 million was invested into Scottish startups in the first quarter alone.  Analysis from Beauhurst reveals that Scotland now accounts for around 12 per cent of all UK investment by number of deals, up from 9 per cent two years ago.  And in Q2, we saw a 15 per cent rise in tech company formation, as more founders choose Scotland for its talent, access, and the growing sense of momentum. 

Tracking this momentum will be much easier now through a new open access platform of information on startups and scaleups in Scotland, developed through a partnership between the University of Edinburgh, Scottish Government, Techcaler and Dealroom - a global provider of data and intelligence on startups and tech ecosystems.  The Scottish Ecosystem Platform, launched last week, includes founding round tracking, investor profiles, and market trends. 

Three years ago, I made a move that surprised a few people - leaving Barclays after 18 years to join CodeBase. During my time at the bank, I had the privilege of co-founding and leading Eagle Labs, the network of startup incubators that grew from zero to more than 35 locations across the UK. It was a rare opportunity to build something new, from the ground up.

When I decided to move on, it was because I wanted to do that again - to build something meaningful that could help shape the next generation of entrepreneurs. I’d worked with CodeBase before, from the buy-side, and realised they were the best in the UK at what they do. And I was drawn to their vision for Scotland and Techscaler.

Turning vision into infrastructure

Three years on, Techscaler has evolved into something much larger than a programme. Techscaler was designed to create real, tangible infrastructure to support the Scottish tech ecosystem - but the deeper ambition has always been cultural.

It’s about encouraging more people to take the leap and start businesses. It’s about giving founders the confidence to believe they can compete on the world stage. And it’s about strengthening Scotland’s connectedness to the global technology community.

Since launch, we’ve partnered with more than 60 organisations to support over 1,300 startups. We’ve delivered 700 expert mentoring sessions to 400 founders, helped over 800 early-stage businesses get off the ground, and supported 250 growth and scale-up companies. We’ve taken 60 businesses to San Francisco, Japan, Singapore and China — helping them build connections and open doors. 

Collectively, our members have raised £195 million since Techscaler began. We don’t take credit for that success - nor should any programme. Founders are the ones who put everything on the line. Their success belongs to them. But what we can do is work with others to create the right environment for ambition to flourish.

The scrutiny that comes with success

Of course, success brings attention - and not always the easy kind.

Any government-funded initiative will inevitably attract scrutiny, and Techscaler is no exception. Some of that comes from politics, some from those who feel displaced by change. That scrutiny can be frustrating, but it’s also part of the cost of doing meaningful work in the public sphere.

At CodeBase, our focus remains on progress. We’ve learned that the real work lies not in defending what’s been built, but in continually improving it - iterating, refining, and collaborating across Scotland’s diverse ecosystem.

Progress brings growing pains, but it also brings momentum. And momentum is something worth protecting.

Putting Scotland on the global map

Looking ahead, our international focus will continue. For startups, access to global capital, customers and talent isn’t a luxury - it’s a necessity. If we want Scotland’s entrepreneurs to succeed, they need a seat at the global table.

That means being present in the world’s leading tech hubs - building relationships, forging partnerships, and putting Scotland firmly on the map.

Some question whether that travel is the right use of public funding. But the truth is, if Scotland wants to compete globally, we can’t afford to look inward. Our horizons must stretch far beyond our borders.

A homegrown exchange of ideas

Closer to home, November brings the second Ecosystem Exchange, hosted at the Edinburgh Futures Institute in partnership with Techscaler, Barclays, University of Edinburgh and others.

Last year’s inaugural event brought together 180 investors, universities, policymakers and ecosystem builders from across the UK for a day of discussion and collaboration. This year, we’re doubling down: over 220 delegates, two days, and international speakers from Canada, San Francisco, Australia and Finland.

The focus this year is clear: is the UK tech ecosystem "future fit" and how technology, particularly AI, can drive economic reinvention. In an era where innovation moves faster than regulation, investment cycles, or institutional thinking, can the UK become relevant players - or even leaders - in this new wave of tech-led growth?

It’s fitting that this conversation is happening in Edinburgh. Scotland’s tech ecosystem has matured rapidly in recent years, and the international attention we’re attracting is both a reflection and a reward of that progress.

The road ahead

Three years in, Techscaler’s story is only just beginning. The numbers are encouraging, but the real value lies in what’s harder to measure - the growing sense of confidence, connection and collaboration that’s now shaping Scotland’s tech landscape. For this, there will be a long tail. The good news is that the head of this tail is getting wider, that means more people are getting more confident, more ambitious and are achieving more at a rate faster than we have seen before. 

At CodeBase, we believe Scotland has every reason to be ambitious. The foundations are strong. The talent is here. The appetite is growing.

Our task now is to keep building - not just infrastructure, but belief. Because Scotland’s future in tech won’t be defined by programmes or politics. It will be defined by people: founders, investors, educators and dreamers who believe that from this small country, we can make a global impact.

A mindset trained on building is so important. If we are not building we are stagnant, or worse: tearing each other down in zero sum games.

The truth is, building ambitious companies builds belief - and building belief builds success. 

And right now, that belief feels stronger than ever.

AI talk of the town at Scotland's first Innovation Week, by Nick Freer

The inaugural Scotland’s Innovation Week wrapped up yesterday, following five days of related events across the country - aimed at bringing together innovators, entrepreneurs, and leading experts to discuss Scotland’s role in transformative technologies and the industries of the future. 

Unsurprisingly, AI was never far from anyone’s lips throughout the week, including at Hampden Bank in Edinburgh on Monday, where a panel including execs from Nile and Valla considered AI’s impact on relationship businesses of which private bank Hampden is one.  

Like every industry, AI is transforming banking and financial services, but for Hampden Bank it’s a balancing act. Recent Accenture research found that 72 per cent of customers choose their banks according to how personalised they think those banks are, and while generative AI is undoubtedly helping to drive innovation, by their very nature relationship businesses still need that human factor.   

Back to the bigger picture.  In Scotland, we always hark back to our pioneering history in technology and innovation, whereas the real question we need to ask ourselves today is whether or not we can continue to innovate in a meaningful way on the global stage.  

Scotland’s university sector has a strong tradition in machine learning, where computers learn patterns from data and of which Generative AI is a sub-set, and our report card is relatively strong when it comes to academic R&D output.  But in industry itself, where R&D becomes commercialised, how are we doing as an AI nation in 2025? 

This week, Europe’s leading tech startup news site Sifted, owned by the Financial Times, ran a feature - “The rise of the AI healthcare ecosystem” - in which Sifted wrote: “Driven by world-class research, academic strength and NHS collaborations, Scotland is positioning itself as a rising hub for AI healthtech and attracting growing interest from investors.”

This would certainly seem like encouraging news, and perhaps no surprise that Scotland is translating a proud centuries-long history in medical innovation into cutting-edge healthtech startups.

The Scots legal profession is another sector steeped in history, and perhaps our most promising AI-enabled startup is to be found here.  Former canny lawyer turned coder Ross McNairn founded legaltech startup Wordsmith here in Edinburgh, backed by highly-rated global venture capital firm Index Ventures. 

Back to the macro.  Where is AI taking us over the next few years and how is it going to impact the global economy?  Speaking to a few ‘high heidiyns’ from the Scottish tech scene at ScotlandIS’s Innovation Summit at the EICC on Thursday, the main takeaway seems to be that success will not lie in completely automating human tasks, but in integrating AI systems to enable continuous operations while maintaining human oversight where it matters most.  

This hybrid approach will likely define the next phase of the economic evolution, creating a more responsive and efficient economy that never sleeps. 

So, Scotland’s challenge, and opportunity, will be to harness AI, not as a replacement for human ingenuity, but as a co-pilot in shaping a smarter, faster, and truly global future.

Scotland's video games sector has potential to have outsized impact on global stage, by Nick Freer

Some of the world’s top execs from the video games industry landed in Scotland this week, with leading industry conference DICE taking place in Edinburgh and Dundee, supported by the Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise.   

According to Chris van der Kuyl, chairman of 4J studios, developers of Minecraft’s console edition, and considered by many to be a doyen of the sector here: “DICE comes at an inflexion point for Scotland, which is well placed to lead the way and have an outsized impact on the global stage.” 

Having helped to bring DICE to Scotland’s capital and his hometown, van der Kuyl points to the forthcoming release of Rockstar North’s GTA 6, forecast by commentators to reshape the entire video game landscape, and 4J’s own new game Reforj as evidence of how Scotland can make an outsized impact on the global stage. 

Currently, Scotland has around 500 gaming studios, employing thousands of staff and launching hundreds of new games each year.  But the general feeling is that we can be much more.  

Nintendo was one of the industry giants in town this week, with Satoru Shibata, Nintendo’s managing executive officer, opening DICE with a keynote address.  In a press release we helped organise, Mr Shibata commented: “It is great to be here in Scotland, a country that has a big reputation in video game development, and to have the opportunity to discuss the road ahead for the industry with peers.”

Nintendo released Switch 2, the successor to its Switch hybrid device, earlier this year, and in the US alone it has already reached over 2 million sales.  Mr Shibata, who is also a director at Japanese media phenomenon Pokémon, puts things in perspective when he talks about Nintendo’s raison d’etre: “As a company, we want to make people smile by providing unique entertainment and a spirit of originality.”

Having attended an evening reception at the W hotel in Edinburgh on Wednesday evening, co-sponsored by 4J and private bank Coutts, one of my main takeaways was that in spite of the video game market being a stratospheric business, everyone I met was very down to earth.

Revenue from the worldwide gaming market reached around $200 billion in 2024, with mobile gaming representing around a half of that total, a year in which the advent of AI gathered pace, venture capital investment contracted after a period of record investment, and market dynamics continued to shift following the impact of Covid.

Speaking to Matthew Short, a partner at investment bank Aream & Co in Berlin, Short said: “There is now a flight to quality, towards both the big blockbuster well known games but also to the much smaller independents that can have massive followings in their own right.”

Given that Scotland is primarily made up of smaller studios, Aream & Co’s view is an encouraging one.  

Confirming what I’ve seen from my own kids'gaming behaviour, Short added: “Games are now social communities that provide as much connectivity and engagement as social media had in the past.”

The importance of computing science in our schools, by Nick Freer

The recently published annual report from Scottish Teachers Advancing Computing Science (STACS) revealed that while “significant progress” is being made in computing science at Scotland’s schools, there is still a chronic undersupply of teachers in a discipline that is considered so important to the economy - computing science is vital in building digital literacy, which helps to drive innovation, create high-value jobs, and underpins growth across every area of industry. 

A teacher-led organisation established by the Scottish Government in direct response to the Scottish Tech Ecosystem Review by Mark Logan, STACS says the tech talent pipeline begins in our classrooms, and our dedicated teachers are at the heart of nurturing it.

One of those dedicated teachers is Toni Scullion, a longstanding computing science teacher in West Lothian and the driving force behind STACS where she is co-lead.  According to Scullion, the number of computing science teachers in our schools is down from over 700 almost two decades ago to 550, and we need to have 50 new teachers entering the profession every year to get us back to a much better position. 

One significant disparity lies in the limited opportunities for teacher training in computing science compared to other traditional STEM subjects. But there is a lot more to this digital puzzle, and I hope Toni Scullion will write more extensively on the subject in this column in the coming weeks.  And, as Scullion pointed out to me when I spoke to her, it’s important to note that many other nations are experiencing similar challenges to Scotland. 

When I caught up with Mark Logan, whose array of roles includes a professorship of computing science at the University of Glasgow, he reflected: “There are two stories to Computing Science teaching in Scotland.  The first is that learning outcomes and results are improving, thanks to initiatives such as STACS, the upskilling programme, and the dedication of teachers in both providing and using these resources.  The second story is of declining teacher numbers, due to a demographic time-bomb that sees older teachers retiring and not being replaced. Our teachers are stepping up. It's time that Cabinet Secretary Gilruth did the same. Indifference is not a strategy."

Diversity is another area of focus for STACS, embedding female role models in lesson plans, with Scullion commenting: “Diversity is at the heart of everything STACS does.  Our resources ensure talented female role models are woven into the fabric of computing science from day one.”

On the subject of female role models, next week sees the 2nd annual Female Founders Growth Summit take place at RBS Gogarburn in Edinburgh.  Since last year’s inaugural summit, the chair of conference organiser Pathways Forward, Ana Stewart, was appointed as successor to Mark Logan as the Scottish Government’s Chief Entrepreneur.  

At the summit on Tuesday, it will be interesting to hear from Stewart about progress and her own blueprint for a more inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem that is positioned to support our most talented entrepreneurs, which of course will in turn boost the nation’s overall economic growth. 

Can Scotland make the Quantum Leap? By Nick Freer

At CodeBase in Edinburgh earlier this week, the ScaleUp Institute and some of the UK’s main players in quantum computing and photonics gathered to discuss an industry that is already valued at around £1.5 billion in Scotland.

For those of us who are not quantum computing professors or rocket scientists, it can be difficult to get your head around this emerging technology, but thankfully there was an actual professor on hand to provide an idiot’s guide.

Christopher Leburn, Technology Exploitation Director at the University of Strathclyde and founder of spinout company Chromacity, explained how photonics increasingly play a part in our daily lives - from switching on our TV or phone, to using lasers to combat cancer cells.

Essentially, photonics are integral to quantum computing and are used as qubits, or “messengers”, connecting quantum computers and enabling large scale quantum systems.

Attempting not to glaze over with an extra shot of caffeine, a quick Google search revealed that Chromacity develops and manufactures infra-red lasers used in quantum applications, with an international customer base that includes Harvard University and the US Air Force.

Now somewhat more informed, the next speaker up, from the Fraunhofer research institute, explained how the latest Apple chip is made up of billions of transistors, and how Fraunhofer works with a myriad of UK and international clients on “cold atoms” and “miniturisation”.

Describing Scotland’s sector as “Glentanglement” and “Quantum Valley”, Fraunhofer says we have around 60 native companies in the space, and forecasts suggest we are on track to triple the value of the quantum computing and photonics industry by 2030.

Commentators agree it is “goldrush time” in quantum computing and every nation is scrambling to provide the “picks and shovels”.  Back at the conference, Scaleup Institute CEO Irene Graham pointed to the range of funding available from the likes of Scottish Enterprise, InnovateUK, and the British Business Bank, in addition to private sector investment, for early stage startups who can have an outsized impact.

Scotland has a world-class university sector, and we have been producing photonics spinouts for over 50 years.  At the same time, it’s generally accepted that we could be doing an even better job at commercialising.  The current run rate shows that we are creating only one or two photonics-related companies every year.

Speaking to one quantum startup yesterday, a spinout from University of Glasgow that was incorporated only last week, the founder gave his take on the opportunity for Scotland to play a meaningful role on a global scale.

Dr Jack Brennan, founder of Quantcore, which specialises in superconducting hardware manufacturing with a focus on quantum computing and quantum sensors, said: “We have a huge strength in quantum research, which is recognised worldwide, and that gives us a chance to play a leading role in the development and commercialisation of quantum technology for real world applications.”

2025 is the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology, marking the 100th anniversary of quantum technology by the United Nations.  Hopefully Scotland can play a leading role in the century ahead.   

At the cutting edge of the Scottish tech scene, guest blog by Melissa Gray, SVP Ecosystem Partnerships at CodeBase and former senior Cisco exec

Strategic partnerships form the backbone of thriving entrepreneurial ecosystems, creating synergies that amplify support for innovative businesses - a model that is integral to our strategy and operations at CodeBase and the Techscaler programme we run for the Scottish Government.

Scottish EDGE, Scotland’s biggest business funding competition and a cornerstone of the nation’s startup landscape, is one of the partnerships which best illustrates this approach.

Funded by the Hunter Foundation, Royal Bank of Scotland, the Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise, and private donors, the prestigious competition has supported over 700 early stage Scottish businesses since 2014, delivering over £29 million in award funding during that time.  And just this week, the Scottish Government announced an additional £3.6 million of funding for EDGE.    

Techscaler’s collaboration with Scottish EDGE is strategically important as it unites Scotland’s leading tech scaling platform with the nation’s premier funding competition, aligning with Techscaler’s mission to accelerate Scotland’s tech ecosystem by ensuring that innovative startups receive comprehensive support - from educational programmes and mentorship to funding.

Now in its third year, Techscaler supports over 1,200 startups who have collectively raised over £120 million since 2023, and Scottish EDGE is one of over 60 related partnerships we have in place.

Key focus areas include cross-promotion of support opportunities for entrepreneurs, facilitating connections to co-develop educational programmes, events, and community resources.  Eligible Scottish EDGE winners get direct access to Techcaler’s educational programmes and mentorship services, while early stage startups engaged with Techscaler receive targeted support to pursue Scottish EDGE funding.

The strategic alignment supports the broader ambitions of the Scottish Government to cultivate a thriving, interconnected ecosystem that spans all regions of Scotland, ensuring that no innovative business is left without the kind of support needed for sustainable growth.

One flagship element of the partnership is the Techscaler sponsored Young EDGE Award, a £15,000 prize specifically designed to support innovative tech businesses led by founders under the age of 30, with a view to nurturing Scotland’s next generation of tech entrepreneurs.

The inaugural Techscaler Young EDGE Award was won by Shifted Group, a staffing platform for the hospitality industry founded by University of Glasgow student Cian Smith and Napier University graduate Callum Leith.  Their innovative app connects venues needing staff with pre-vetted employees, eliminating traditional agency requirements and paperwork - exemplifying the type of tech innovation our partnership aims to support.

At Scottish EDGE’s 25th round in May, 18 of the award winners were also Techscaler members, representing combined winnings of around £400,000.

As Scottish EDGE CEO Evelyn McDonald puts it: “At Scottish EDGE we believe that access to the right blend of funding, education, and community support enables ambitious founders to thrive. Our partnership with Techscaler, including the Techscaler Young EDGE Award, is a powerful example of how collaboration across Scotland’s entrepreneurial ecosystem can open more doors for early-stage businesses, encourage inclusive engagement, and accelerate growth. We are confident this partnership will continue to deliver results, nurturing the next generation of innovative companies that will strengthen Scotland’s reputation as a place to start and scale your business.”

The business of rugby, by Nick Freer

As the Women’s Rugby World Cup kicks off this weekend, the game has never been in better shape - according to Deloitte, the women’s elite sport is set to generate £1.8 billion globally this year, following a three-year “super growth” period since the tournament was held in New Zealand in 2022.

The Women’s Rugby World Cup in England is forecast to attract up to 400,000 attendees, amassing 50 million global viewing hours, while attracting a whole new fanbase for the sport.  United States player Ilona Maher, named at outside centre for last night’s World Cup opener against England, personifies the popularity of women’s rugby with almost 9 million social media followers and Hollywood beckoning.

This afternoon in Manchester, Scotland embarks on the tournament against old foe Wales, a team only one place below the Scots in the world rankings.  With a tight head-to-head record against the Welsh in recent times, today’s game may not be a Hollywood blockbuster but it is sure to be a must-watch, super competitive with a good helping of niggle. There may not be much love lost between these Celtic counterparts.

For Scotland, the women’s team has become both a source of national pride and a symbol of progress.  The rise is about more than winning matches, it’s also about changing perceptions around who gets to play the game of rugby, who gets to be seen, and who succeeds.

Who knows, perhaps the future of rugby will be shaped as much by women as by men.  That could be the most exciting part of this story.

A fortnight ago, on a sunny but chilly evening in St Andrews, I joined family and friends of the Scotland team for a night of music, food and drink, organised by sponsors and partners of Scottish Rugby.  What hit me most at this informal send off for Scotland’s finest was the strong emotion, happy and proud tears from parents and siblings.

As James Reid wrote for The Scotsman earlier in the week, with the tournament marking Bryan Easson’s closing chapter as head coach, it will contribute to a lasting legacy and end his tenure at the top.

Those of us who know Bryan will also be rooting for him and his staff along with the players themselves.  As per the motto that Scottish Rugby came up with to signify unity, community, and inclusivity, “As One”.

Has Bryan Easson had to do the job at times with one hand tied behind his back?  Does it make sense for him to be leaving the Scotland setup at this point?  Those questions are best answered by another columnist another time.   

What he does next in the sport or in business will be interesting, but anyone who knows Bryan realises the outsized impact the guy can make, going back to his electric performances for Exeter, or when Stuart Hogg dedicated his British Lions jersey to Bryan for the support and mentorship he had received over the years.

AI feeling hungry with software on the menu, by Nick Freer

When you look at the success of the Scottish tech startup scene to date, in the main it is startups building software to deliver innovation across B2B and B2C have underpinned this exponential growth.

So, think online travel giant Skyscanner or sports betting star FanDuel - both multibillion-valued companies who began their lives as startups here in Edinburgh, from where they both took their first fledgling flights before hitting global scale and becoming the nation’s first unicorns.

This week, digital consultancy CreateFuture (formerly xDesign) announced a technology partnership with Skyscanner, following on from a previous engagement with FanDuel, which will see CEO and founder Euan Andrews and his 500-strong team based across the UK and Europe, support Skyscanner in areas including audience experience, data and AI tooling, and app experience.

As CEO Andrews noted in CreateFuture’s press announcement this week, “We think this says something about the evolution of the Scottish technology ecosystem as a whole.”

He is right, it does, because while the big tech brands generally garner the news headlines, we shouldn’t forget the specialist firms that provide supporting roles, and some of our native digital consultancies and software development firms should be filed under this category.

Global tech players like Skyscanner and FanDuel know how to spread their butter when it comes to employing and deploying tech talent within their businesses, and equally they know the value of using external talent to support the development of their technology.

Rewind to August 2019 and another Scottish software studio, Cultivate, was in the news after being acquired by Deliveroo, marking the food delivery app’s first acquisition in the UK.

Cultivate, headquartered at CodeBase in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle, had a relatively small team of engineers and developers, but small can be beautiful and these beautiful people were helping Deliveroo around its payment system which handled millions of transactions every day.

Renowned venture capitalist Marc Andreessen’s 2011 declaration that “software in is eating the world” proved prophetic, but as we know technology waits for no man or woman and six years later Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang moved Andreessen’s metaphor on, famously remarking: “Software is eating the world… but AI is eating software.”

Arguably, the most important software conference in the world, ‘SaaStr’, takes place in San Francisco in May every year with software-as-a-service (SaaS) founders, executives, and investors gathering in the Bay Area to network, hear from SaaS leaders, secure investment, and sell.  And it was with little surprise that the organisers added “AI” to the name of the conference this year.

Last month, McKinsey & Company released its ‘Technology Trends Outlook’ report for 2025, in which the global management consultancy stated: “Even as excitement builds, realising AI’s full potential across sectors will require continued innovations to manage computing intensity, reduce deployment costs, and drive infrastructure investment.  This will also demand thoughtful approaches to safety, governance, and workplace adaptation, creating a wide range of opportunities for industry leaders, policymakers, and entrepreneurs alike.”

Food for thought.

Forbes moved the dial on Scottish tech, by Nick Freer

As a longstanding adviser to the Scottish tech and entrepreneurial scene, I was sad to see the news this week that Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes plans to step away from politics.  While I have always shied away from nailing any party colours to a particular mast, certainly as that pertains to my professional life, my respect for Forbes has never really been about the politics anyway. 

Going back to 2018 when Forbes was appointed Minister for Public Finance and Digital Economy, I got to see firsthand how much time Forbes spent with the tech community, including with CEOs from many of the startups that I worked with.  

Importantly, there wasn’t any fanfare and I don’t remember too many associated media jamborees, it was more about getting out into the trenches to hear about startup life from founders and their challenges when it came to support, investment, skills, and growth.  

I recall being at an investor fireside chat event in Edinburgh around this time, featuring a partner from a European venture capital firm and a couple of prominent Scottish tech founders.  I saw Forbes slip in from the back of the venue unnoticed by most attendees and sit down for half an hour or so, taking notes, then quietly leaving, all without any fuss.  

Fast forward a year or so, it came as no surprise to see the Scottish Government, spearheaded by Forbes, commissioning the Scottish Technology Ecosystem Review, authored by former Skyscanner COO Mark Logan.  That report, now referred to as STER, was published in the summer of 2020 and many of its recommendations have since been put into action with a view to strengthening Scotland’s credentials as a tech nation.  

Following on from Logan being appointed chief entrepreneurial adviser to the Scottish Government in 2022, multiple initiatives were enacted - around startup and scaleup support, women in entrepreneurship, digital skills, computing science in schools, funding, and international strategy.  Few could argue that, collectively, they have not moved the dial in the right direction since.  

So, irrespective of politics, from my perspective Kate Forbes gets top marks for championing entrepreneurship in Scotland and helping to put some of the right pieces in place to foster the development of Scottish tech.  Did I give her an extra mark for hailing from Dingwall on the Black Isle, a Highland town in which I spent a formative year of my life?  Definitely maybe.  

Roll With It

Last week, the Centre for Economics and Business Research revealed research indicating that the Oasis gigs at Murrayfield last night and tonight will deliver over £40 million of economic benefit to Edinburgh, helped by the fact that almost three quarters of attendees will travel into the city as either day or overnight visitors.  

Having spent twenty-four hours online trying to get tickets, then finally getting two, we ended up passing them onto a neighbour who was desperate to see the Gallagher brothers reunion but had missed out.  Admittedly, we are now feeling a little bit of FOMO, but I guess we’ll just have to roll with it. 

Beyond the comfort zone: how challenge sparks growth and empathy, guest blog by Elevator CEO Rachel Ross

In a wet and midge-infested Aberfoyle, an invigorating July weekend unfolded - not just in the rugged Scottish landscape, but in the hearts and minds of the entrepreneurs taking part in the annual Elevator Challenge Weekend.

This unique event, which has been run by volunteers from the Dundee-based social enterprise Elevator for the last 20 years, is designed to test the mettle of entrepreneurs and budding business owners, encouraging them to push beyond their comfort zones, embrace vulnerability, challenging themselves to think and act differently.

At its core, the challenge is about fostering a growth mindset - a concept that has become increasingly critical in both personal and professional development.

Young people and new business owners often face the daunting task of navigating an unpredictable world, where market dynamics, technology and customer preferences are constantly changing. For them, a growth mindset is more than a personal trait; it is a tool to thrive in the face of adversity.

But what does it really mean to step outside your comfort zone?

And why is it essential for the development of not just a business, but the leadership skill to lead and work with an entire team?

When participants come together at the Elevator Challenge Weekend, they are thrown into collaborative situations with individuals they have never met before.

The result? A remarkable synergy that highlights the importance of diversity - of thought, experience, and perspective.

It is easy to feel secure within the confines of our familiar circles - be it in our workplace, educational institution, or even our friendships.

However, growth doesn’t happen in a bubble.

It is through the exchange of ideas with people from different walks of life that we gain fresh insights, innovative solutions and sometimes even unexpected opportunities. In Aberfoyle, participants were given the chance to challenge their assumptions, pivot their thinking and see their ideas through the lenses of others.

They also had to learn to support each other through physically and mentally challenging tasks. Sometimes, however, it is easier to be vulnerable and open with strangers than with those that know us best.

The key to turning these diverse inputs into progress lies in trust.

The kind of trust that allows someone to present an idea to a group of strangers and recognise that it will be heard, understood and respected.

This doesn’t happen by accident. It takes empathy - an essential ingredient for building strong, cohesive teams. Empathy is the ability to put yourself in someone else's shoes and, in doing so, create an environment where collaboration, rather than competition, thrives.

It’s this concept of empathy and trust that creates a fertile ground for teams to flourish. As businesses grow, so too must their capacity to nurture diverse viewpoints, resolve conflict and celebrate differences.

A business isn’t just a collection of tasks - it’s a team of people, each contributing their own strengths. The Elevator Challenge Weekend provides a rare and valuable opportunity for participants to experience this in action, and many left the event not only with new business strategies but with new relationships that would propel their ventures forward.

As one recent participant, Victoria Lane of Solway Blankets, reflected: “The Elevator Challenge Weekend pushed me mentally, physically and emotionally.

“It has given me the clarity to see what kind of team I need around me to facilitate the growth of my business, helped me realise the power of communication, trust and letting go of control to move forward.

“The whole experience was undeniably life changing and a pivotal moment in my life and business - I’d absolutely recommend it to anyone willing to get uncomfortable and grow.”

As we look at the future of entrepreneurship in Scotland, one has to ask: are we doing enough to provide young people with opportunities to develop these critical skills?

Are our schools and colleges fostering environments that encourage risk-taking, collaboration and growth mindset?

More importantly, how can we build an impact culture, where young people and experienced professionals alike can contribute to each other’s development?

At Elevator, we believe that by encouraging an impact driven culture, we can provide young entrepreneurs with the chance to gain hands-on experience, network with diverse mentors and build teams that are adaptable, resilient and capable of thriving, creating sustainable outcomes both economically and socially.

The skills that students learn from these experiences will not only benefit them in business, but will contribute to the larger goal of creating an entrepreneurial ecosystem where trust, empathy and growth are at the forefront.

Encouraging the growth and development of more enterprises that have give-back and impact embedded into them is arguably one very strong way to maintain and increase these type of community activities.

The Elevator Challenge Weekend is more than just a weekend - it is a testament to the power of stepping outside your comfort zone, embracing diverse perspectives, and trusting others to help you grow.

As we look ahead for the future of Scotland’s economy, let’s continue to ask ourselves: how can we build more of these opportunities for the next generation of entrepreneurs and how can we ensure that everyone has a seat at the table and how can we use economic development opportunities to deliver more than just GDP output, but a mindset that permeates both the economy and society.

Tipping a hat to Scotland's social entrepreneurs, by Nick Freer

Research by American Express earlier this year found that Generation Z business leaders are pioneering a new approach with purpose, profit and wellbeing at the forefront of their ventures.

The study of UK entrepreneurs and senior leaders aged 18-27 revealed that while 88 per cent see hitting profit targets as the key measure of business success, 85 per cent said it’s important for their business to solve problems that others don’t, and 82 per cent of the sample considered their business to be “purpose driven”.

So, what does “purpose driven” actually mean? Respondents of the survey defined this as a business which “makes a positive difference to a significant environmental or social issue” (31 per cent), a business “using its mission and values to guide decision-making” (22 per cent) or one with “clear ethical credentials” (17 per cent). Leaving a positive legacy was crucial in the study, with 93 per cent of respondents wanting to “build something that their family will be proud of”.

For me, when you see a bona fide purpose-driven business out on the coalface you know – as they say, when you know you know. Back in 2017, I met entrepreneur Matt Fountain, who had given up the chance to study a PhD in the economics of art at Oxford in order to set up social enterprise Freedom Bakery in Low Moss prison near Glasgow.

Training inmates to make artisan bread for sale to cafes, restaurants and stores, CEO Fountain said at the time, in a national newspaper report we helped organise: “We incarcerate people as punishment for a crime, but when they get released they get incarcerated again by society”. Chapeau Matt, chapeau.

This week, we handled a press announcement for an initiative which aims to boost the creation and growth of Scottish tech businesses with a social or environmental mission. Techscaler – the Scottish Government’s programme for creating, developing and scaling tech startups run by CodeBase – partnered with The Ventures Lab, a global organisation on a mission to support early stage social entrepreneurs, with a view to strengthening the pipeline of impact-driven startups in Scotland.

Dr Kate Smith, CEO and founder of Edinburgh-based ProfessorMe, is one of the purpose-driven companies already receiving support from the partnership. Having developed what the company describes as “the world’s first AI professor”, she talks about improving the educational experience for students across the world, including in countries with disrupted education systems.

As Kate, a former journalist, puts it: “As a world-positive business, we want to reach learners no matter their personal circumstances or location. Research shows that if a woman receives a university education, it positively impacts her family for the next five generations.”

“We share a vision”, says Smith, “that a better world is possible”.

I guess that gets to the heart of things when it comes to social entrepreneurs and purpose-driven businesses. The Matt Fountains and Kate Smiths of the world should be applauded and feted. Social entrepreneurs of the world, unite and take over!

Scotland's startups are hitting a sweet spot, guest blog by James Trotman, Head of Investor Relations at CodeBase

Let’s be honest, startup ecosystems around the world have been on a rollercoaster for the past few years. A pandemic-fuelled investment boom, followed by a sobering contraction, has left founders and investors alike wondering where the next big opportunity will emerge.

But while much of the UK (and beyond) wrestles with declining deal volumes and shifting investor appetites, Scotland is quietly building momentum. And it’s time we started talking about it.

And the data doesn’t lie: Scotland is bucking the trend. According to Beauhurst’s May 2025 report, Scotland’s early-stage investment market has defied gravity. Strip out the anomaly years of 2021–2022, and Scotland is on a steady upward climb with investment into Scottish companies growing 24% from 2023 to 2024, even as overall deal volume dipped slightly (down 9%).

What does this tell us? Investors are backing Scottish startups with conviction, writing bigger cheques and showing real confidence in the ecosystem. This isn’t a blip. It’s a trend.

The good news doesn’t stop at capital flow. RSM UK’s recent figures show a 15% increase in Scottish tech company formations in Q2 2025, a sharp rebound from a slight dip in Q1.

This is a clear signal that entrepreneurial confidence is returning  and that founders increasingly see Scotland as a viable, even preferable, place to start and scale their companies.

In the last week, YCF released a telling piece titled “New Investors Flock to Scotland”, highlighting a 12% rise in new investors making their first ever investments in Scotland. That’s a major signal, and as domestic markets contract or become saturated, international investors are starting to see Scotland for what it truly is:

• A tech-savvy, talent-rich ecosystem

• A country with strong public-sector support and global connections

• A place where capital can go further, and innovation can move faster

Deals like Wordsmith’s $25M Series A led by Index Ventures, Orbex’s $20M Series C extension backed by Denmark’s Export & Investment Fund, and BLK Global’s £50M round led by Nimbus Capital don’t just show momentum, they prove that international investors are actively betting on Scotland’s breakout potential. According to Scottish Development International (SDI), there’s increasing demand from overseas VC firms wanting to tap into Scotland’s emerging categories including AI, HealthTech, and consumer technologies, not historically seen as Scottish strongholds. That’s changing, fast.

Scotland’s startup ecosystem is hitting a sweet spot. For years, foundational work has been laid, from university spinouts and incubator programmes to angel networks and early government support. Now, we’re seeing the maturation of that ecosystem, with more “investable” companies reaching traction and scale.

Crucially, the market shift toward slightly later-stage early-stage deals, seed and Series A, actually suits where many Scottish startups are in their growth journey. It’s good timing, and Scotland is rising to meet the moment. According to Scottish Enterprise, they are seeing a sophisticated pipeline of companies that are ready for global scale in not-traditional sectors that are attracting the interest of investors from London to San Francisco.

At CodeBase, we’ve always believed in starting where you are with a global first mindset. That’s why Techscaler exists, to support founders with world-class education, expert mentorship, and a community of like-minded innovators, regardless of background or geography. We’re not just helping build startups, we’re helping build a nationwide startup culture that’s open, ambitious, and ready for what’s next.

Scotland isn’t just catching up. It’s setting the pace. With stronger investment activity, rising company formations, and increasing international interest, the ecosystem is showing resilience and ambition, exactly what’s needed in a turbulent global market.

So, yes, we do need to talk about Scotland. Because in 2025, it’s one of the smartest places to launch and back the next generation of world-changing tech companies.

Building a world-class digital healthcare business, guest blog by Simple Online Healthcare CEO and Co-founder Addy Mohammed

Across global media in 2025, we continue to read about how healthcare systems are struggling worldwide - with commonplace issues ranging from high costs, insufficient staff, and long waiting lists.  And, as we operate in the UK, Germany, Denmark, and Germany, we’re seeing these challenges firsthand out on the coalface.

I co-founded Simple Online alongside my university friend Karim Nassar in 2015, building on our experience of owning and operating community pharmacies across Scotland to offer a convenient patient-first pharmacy service with medications delivered direct to the door.

We now utilise  technology to give patients quick and discrete access to the care they need, at a much lower cost than traditional healthcare models.  Combining technology with a multi-disciplinary team of health professionals, we can provide that level of personalised clinical care that you might expect from a local community pharmacy.

Our vision is to make healthcare more affordable and accessible, supporting our patients with personalised tools and the knowledge to make long-term lifestyle changes.  So, for example, we were one of the first providers of weight loss medications in the UK, investing significantly in a weight management programme that combines GLP-1 medications like Wegovy and Mounjaro alongside holistic weight management support from a wide team of specialist healthcare professionals.

To say we are in a fast-moving market would be an understatement when you consider that the global online pharmacy market is valued at almost £100 billion, and forecast to grow to around £400 billion by 2033. Digital healthcare is evolving rapidly, in fact ten years ago digital clinics were only in their infancy, so we are committed to investing in technology that enhances the patient journey so we can always deliver best-in-class care.

In April, we marked our 10th anniversary with record monthly revenue, but the last thing we are going to do is rest on our laurels.  Scaling a technology company is no easy shift, particularly when you are investing across geographies, supply chains, technology, and talent.

This year, we will be strengthening our leadership team as we enter our next phase of growth.  And we remain thankful to have Non-executive Directors of Shane Corstorphine and Jules Pancholi’s calibre to lean on as we plot further growth and international expansion.

If I have allowed myself a moment to reflect on how far we’ve come over the last ten years, one thing that stands out is that we’ve managed to get to this point while being self-funded, something of an oxymoron for a fast-growing technology company in 2025.  While VCs have knocked on the door over the years, we’ve resisted the venture capital route to date.

We are bootstrapped and still learning every day.  And having non-execs in our corner has been more valuable than any funding we could have sought.  We always want to keep learning and growing, while building a world-class digital healthcare business from a base in Scotland.

The ‘missing middle’ of businesses need more support to succeed, by Nick Freer

Last month, business support group Elevator launched its inaugural Scottish SME Survey to analyse what it believes to be the “missing middle” in growth support, and to seek to better understand what Scotland’s SMEs need to thrive. 

Commenting at the time, Elevator’s CEO Rachel Ross said: “In Scotland, we are very good at supporting early stage startups at one end of the spectrum, and scale-up companies at the other end, but where we could be missing a trick is around what has been described as the ‘missing middle’.  We know that SMEs are the lifeblood of the Scottish economy, they consistently face economic and business challenges, so the more we can help them to grow the more we will all benefit as a nation.” 

The Scottish Government’s Businesses in Scotland report in November 2024 revealed that there were an estimated 355,805 SMEs operating in Scotland as of March 2024, accounting for approximately 42 per cent of employment across the private sector as a whole.  

Having supported over 3,500 SMEs over the last few years, few are better placed to gauge the sentiment of our business leaders than Elevator, and as an agency we’re pleased to be working with CEO Ross and her team on the survey.  

The survey incorporates questions around access to finance, government support, people talent and skills, community wealth building, technology investment and AI, export plans, and views on the macroeconomic environment.  

When we look at an area like technology, we know digitalisation can unlock SME competitiveness, through improving efficiencies and accessing new markets.  And the expectation is that AI will be prevalent in Elevator’s survey findings.  

Speaking to tech consulting and implementation group ClearSky Logic last week, CEO Darren Auld said his company’s work with SMEs through to larger corporates with revenue in excess of £100 million indicates that Elevator is “spot on” about Scotland’s so-called “missing middle”.  

On AI more specifically, ClearSky’s CEO Auld says: “As a tech enabler, what’s critical is understanding that AI is not just another tool; it’s a field lever for entire sectors.  The businesses that move first here are going to gain a massive, often irreversible advantage.  Not moving at all?  That’s simply the biggest risk.” 

ClearSky’s own survey of Scottish SMEs at the back end of last year, which focused around AI, a survey we also partnered on, found that while a vast majority of companies planned to invest in artificial intelligence (90 per cent), only just over half of SMEs had already had invested at that time.  

What’s abundantly clear is that Scottish SMEs need to invest in AI and adopt it quicker, otherwise they will not match the productivity gains of equivalent companies in other countries and regions, and the overall nation’s GDP will not reach its full potential. 

If you’re a SME leader in Scotland, you could do a lot worse than plug into the expert advice and services provided by the likes of Elevator and  ClearSky Logic.

Startup guidance more accelerative than capital alone, by Nick Freer

Having been ensconced in the world of corporate PR for more years than I’d care to admit, including during the dotcom era where I advised tech startups as a consultant with an agency in London, I take a keen interest in how press announcements resonate after hitting the headlines.

In March, one such announcement around the launch of a new tech founder fund caught my attention, in no small part because of the mixed reception it received across the startup and investor scene.

“Project Europe”, a €10m fund backed by Berlin and New York VC firms and over 120 founders who have ‘been there, done that’ (essentially built and exited startups), was heralded in the tech press and as one leading publication framed it at the time, had the “European VC set buzzing”.

The Project Europe fund aims to help entrepreneurs under the age of 25 by providing mentorship and investing in up to 20 of them, offering €200,000 in exchange for 6.66 per cent of equity.

While there were many plaudits for the initiative, particularly around the involvement of so many successful founders, there was also a good helping of  naysayers; some termed the age limit shortsighted, others took issue with the level of equity being taken, and an overriding criticism was over the size of the fund itself.

According to those behind the fund, the rationale for its creation stemmed from a less supportive US vis-a-vis Europe in current political times and a collective desire to create more tech titans in the region.

Bringing things back to the Scottish startup scene, much respected scaleup C-suite Richard Lennox says the fund raises some interesting questions for ambitious founders based here: “Everyone recognises that the angel and syndicate network in Scotland is good for early stage, but Scottish companies need to leave Scotland for the next rounds.”

Richard’s point was best illustrated earlier this month, when Edinburgh-headquartered Wordsmith AI announced a $25m series A investment led by global venture capital firm Index Ventures, which itself has backed other storied startups including $45bn fintech Revolut and Mistral,  Europe’s most valuable AI startup.  As an agency, we worked with Wordsmith CEO and founder Ross McNairn, like Richard Lennox a former Skyscanner executive, and Index on the announcement.

On the flip side, as Aberdeen-based CCU International CEO and co-founder Beena Sharma wrote in a LinkedIn post this week, not all success stories come with a funding announcement.  As Sharma put it: “Sometimes, choosing not to raise, or walking away from a term sheet is the bravest and most values-driven decision a founder can make”.

Supporting Glasgow-headquartered Simple Online Healthcare, one the UK’s fastest-growing digital healthcare scaleups, around its annual results announcement this week, CEO Addy Mohammed drew attention to how the decade-old company remains self-funded, while reporting revenue tripling to £66 million.

Like many of Scotland’s most successful startups, it’s no surprise that Simple Online has a Skycanner connection of its own, with former CFO Shane Corstorphine sitting on its board.  Further demonstration that experienced guidance and support is significantly more accelerative than capital alone.

What could digital reforms mean for Scotland’s legal sector? Guest blog by Legado CEO and founder Josif Grace

The Law Commission of England and Wales recently published final recommendations to modernise the Wills Act, including proposals to allow for the digital signing and witnessing of wills. While these changes do not apply in Scotland, they raise timely and relevant questions for legal professionals north of the border.

Scotland’s succession law operates within a distinct legal framework, with its own rules around capacity, witnessing and execution. At present, there is no indication that equivalent reforms are imminent. However, the broader momentum around digital transformation in legal processes, particularly where client engagement and accessibility are concerned, is hard to ignore.

These proposals are not simply about introducing new technology. They reflect a growing drive to reduce friction, simplify legacy planning, and align legal services with how people increasingly manage their affairs — securely, remotely, and on their own terms.

Changing Client Expectations

Despite the fundamental importance of will-making, more than half of UK adults still do not have a will. The reasons vary, but a consistent barrier is the perception that the process is too formal, too complex, or not designed with modern life in mind. While legal reform in Scotland may not be imminent, client expectations are shifting across the UK.

This presents a challenge as well as an opportunity for Scottish firms. Individuals increasingly expect the same clarity, flexibility and security from legal services that they experience in banking, healthcare and financial planning. Firms that can deliver that while still upholding legal rigour will be well placed to meet demand.

Kirsten Leckie, a director and a knowledge and development lawyer in Burness Paull’s private client team, said: “In Scotland, we are watching with interest to see how the proposed reforms from the Law Commission to making a will unfold in England and Wales, particularly regarding electronic wills.

“Across the legal profession, there is recognition that we must modernise – changing generations interact with their personal affairs differently now than even a generation ago. Making a will and passing estate on death is fundamental.

“Changes which make this process easier and more accessible are to be welcomed, but must ensure the right protections are in place to protect the gravitas and integrity of wills as well as vulnerable individuals.”

Strengthening the Experience with Digital Infrastructure

Even without legislative change, Scottish firms are already improving the client journey by adopting digital infrastructure.

Platforms like Legado are being used by firms across the UK – including by Co-Op Legal Services, one of the largest providers of estate planning and probate services in the UK – to securely store and share documents, support encrypted client communications, and facilitate digital signing where appropriate.

The use of electronic signatures is already well established in many areas of legal practice. As Walter Clark, partner at Pinsent Masons LLP, observes: “COVID significantly accelerated the use of digital signatures across the legal profession, although some Scots law documents still require wet ink. 

“There are clear advantages to the digital route, particularly around verifying identities, time stamping, and protecting the overall integrity of what’s been signed. It may take time for the law to catch up in Scotland, but it absolutely makes sense for it to do so.”

This infrastructure is not about replacing legal processes but reinforcing them. It gives professionals the ability to manage documents securely, trace actions clearly, and offer clients long-term visibility over their affairs. By embedding tools such as digital vaults, audit logs and identity verification into workflows, firms can increase both efficiency and trust.

These enhancements support better client engagement and reduce the administrative burden, while maintaining the core legal safeguards that underpin the process of will-making.

Looking Ahead

Scotland may not yet be pursuing the same legislative path as England and Wales, but the profession is still part of a wider shift in how legal services are delivered. The question is no longer just about legal reform. It is also about operational readiness and the experience clients receive.

This moment provides space to reflect. Are our systems and processes keeping pace with the expectations of the people we serve? Firms that take steps now to modernise their approach will be better prepared to lead if and when the legal landscape shifts, and will deliver greater value to their clients in the meantime.

How Scotland’s remote digital innovators are competing globally, guest blog by Elevator CEO Rachel Ross

We often hear the same story: tech startups thrive in cities, in coworking spaces near capital and innovation. But this is no longer the full picture – and increasingly, it’s out of date. 

At Elevator, we’ve worked with over 9,000 startups and 3,500 established SMEs across Scotland over the last five years. What we’re seeing — and what we believe the country must now fully embrace — is that rural entrepreneurs are not just keeping pace with their urban peers; they’re pushing boundaries in ways that reflect resilience, creativity, and innovation at the very edge.

And they’re not alone. Around the world, rural regions are fast becoming crucibles of cutting-edge innovation. From geothermal biotech in Iceland to agritech in New Zealand, digital platforms in Indigenous Canada to AI-powered craft in rural Japan, we are witnessing a global trend: innovation is no longer geographically confined. It’s culturally and contextually driven — and rurality is emerging as an asset, not a liability.

So, where does Scotland fit in?

Rethinking “Remote”

The word “remote” means different things to different people.

Located near Oban and co-owning a business there, I often find people slightly incredulous that I manage to be a CEO based from a Head Office in Dundee, with frequent meetings in Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Glasgow to get to – yes, the road and rail infrastructure is poor and I need to plan where to stop to answer emails or take work calls en route. No, there is no such thing as a consistent signal on any of the routes I journey along.

Yet from my superfast connected house overlooking Jura, I have no problem dialling in to meetings and thanks to frequent EV charge points, can easily take my car to a meeting in Edinburgh by lunchtime and be back in Argyll that evening.

Mainland Argyll is pretty accessible compared to the islands and whilst we may be considered remote if you live in the central belt, we are on the urban fringe by many highland travel standards. 

Perspective on distance shifts mindsets. Rurality in Scotland is not a barrier. It’s a context — one that comes with challenges, yes, but also with strengths: close ties to natural resources, tight-knit communities, and a mindset that naturally leans toward sustainability and adaptation.

And these are precisely the conditions in which innovation thrives.

HerdAdvance: From Farm to Cloud in Aberdeenshire

Take HerdAdvance, founded by Jilly Duncan-Grant in Aberdeenshire, who has just won a National Women in Agriculture Award Combining deep farming expertise with cutting-edge digital tools, Jilly has developed a platform that transforms how livestock health and performance is tracked and managed — reducing antibiotics use, improving welfare, and boosting farm productivity.

HerdAdvance isn’t just a tech company; it’s a rural impact business. Jilly’s lived experience of farming, and her embeddedness in her community, allow her to design for real-world complexity — something that can’t be easily replicated in a city lab.

But make no mistake: HerdAdvance is also globally relevant. The future of food security, ethical farming, and sustainable land use depends on innovations like this. That it’s being built in rural Scotland is not a curiosity — it’s a strategic advantage. 

AgriAudit: Growth, Trust, and Data in Angus

Another example is AgriAudit, a Scottish EDGE winner based in Angus. Led by founder Tom Porter AgriAudit helps farmers and food producers simplify and digitise compliance processes, making food assurance easier and more trustworthy.

AgriAudit is particularly exciting because it bridges two critical issues for rural innovators: trust and digital transformation. In sectors where trust and reputation are everything, AgriAudit helps business streamline the painful paper audit process that is the thorn in every farmer’s side, and what used to take days is now less than a few hours. 

As with many rural ventures, the innovation here is not just in technology — it’s in business model, access, and empathy. And again, this insight was born of place. Rural founders design from the inside out.

Digital Barriers Are Real — But Not Defining

This is not to suggest that rural innovators don’t face real challenges — especially when it comes to digital infrastructure. We often hear from business owners across rural Scotland who are navigating inconsistent broadband, poor mobile signals, and the cost of cloud services at scale.

But what’s interesting is that these challenges have become part of the innovation process itself.

Take the recent ScotRail pilot, using low-orbit satellites to provide uninterrupted internet to train passengers — a brilliant example of how rural and mobile connectivity problems are spurring advanced solutions. Richard Lochhead can now travel and work along with the rest of the Inverness population, saving time and improving productivity on his route south to Edinburgh. 

The truth is, rural entrepreneurs are not waiting for perfect infrastructure. They’re innovating around it — designing lighter systems, storing data offline, collaborating asynchronously, and building resilient, flexible tools.

In a way, their constraint is their creativity.

Programmes Driving Change in rural Scotland

At Elevator, we’re proud to be delivering several rural-focused programmes funded by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) — each one geared toward supporting businesses to grow through innovation and change.

The Digital Innovation for Tourism Businesses programme offers the opportunity to support rural tourism SMEs in leveraging tech — from digital booking systems to immersive visitor experiences. It’s not just about modernisation; it’s about storytelling, reach, and resilience in a sector central to Scotland’s rural economy.

Meanwhile, our new Gaelic Business Change Programme – launching  on 13 June in Portree – supports Gaelic-first enterprises to innovate, adapt and grow — combining cultural preservation with business development. The programme is almost entirely delivered on-line, with businesses spanning the whole of the highlands. 

These are not fringe initiatives. They reflect a serious, system-wide commitment to rural-led growth and impressively show how improved digital connection can lead to reinvigoration and innovation in our cultural heritage businesses 

What Rural Entrepreneurs Teach Us About Innovation

There’s a misconception that innovation means disruption — a word associated with high-speed change and Silicon Valley swagger. But rural innovation in Scotland tends to look different. It’s quieter, more deliberate, more interdependent. As Professor Donald MacLean at Glasgow University often states ‘ Our rural businesses follow an emergent strategy. They think like red squirrels and not grey’. And often, it’s a more sustainable and impact-led approach too.

Rural innovators design for complexity. They are deeply embedded in systems — environmental, social, economic. They don’t build to flip. They build to last.

And this ethos — one of regeneration, long-termism, and circular thinking — is exactly what the global economy now needs.

So, What Needs to Happen Next?

If we want to unlock the full potential of digital innovation in rural Scotland, as a country we need to take a few bold steps:

• Invest in infrastructure: Not just broadband, but also logistics, workspace, and training capacity and rural leadership skills – that are founded on innovation and creativity.

• Shift the narrative: Recognise rural founders as national assets, not edge cases.

• Design policy that fits: Support for startups and SMEs must consider rural timelines, markets, and modes of working.

• Celebrate success: Awards like the King’s Award and Scottish EDGE are great — but let’s tell these stories louder, in more places, and more often. The move to the Regional EDGE awards this year has been a real testament to this and it is great to see how digital transformation is featuring so strongly in applications. 

Because when rural businesses win, Scotland wins. These enterprises bring jobs, pride, sustainability, and international reach — all rooted in place.

Final Thought: The Edge Is Where Innovation Happens

The world doesn’t need more of the same. It needs different perspectives, deeper thinking, and solutions that work not just in labs, but on land. And often, that means looking to the places furthest from the capital — where innovation is driven not by need, care, and courage.

At Elevator, we’ll continue to champion Scotland’s rural digital innovators — because they’re not behind. They’re ahead, in ways that truly matter.

Cracking the code of global-scale businesses, by Nick Freer

Glasgow Tech Week took place this week in the metropolis once known as the Second City of the Empire.  At the stunning Barclays campus with incredible views over the Clyde, the river that runs through the story of Glasgow’s industrial revolution, today’s business leaders gathered to discuss taking Scotland’s tech and entrepreneurial scene to the next level.

The ‘Scaling in Sync - C-suite strategies for Unified Growth’ event featured scaleup leaders from Deliveroo, ENOUGH, Firstbase, and Malted AI, and thanks to the Innovation Banking team at Barclays, Cooper Parry, and Burness Paull for inviting me along to chair the panel on the night.

Andy Robinson was the commercial director at software development firm Cultivate when Deliveroo made the company its first ever UK acquisition in 2019, with Robinson joining a tech juggernaut which was hiring up to one hundred people every week - which sounded like scaling on steroids.

As chief financial officer at ENOUGH, chief financial officer Elaine Ferguson has overseen funding rounds totalling over 100 million Euros from global investors as the food tech company innovates towards its mission around sustainable food transition.  Headquartered in Glasgow, ENOUGH recently opened the world’s largest non-animal protein facility, based in the Netherlands.

After leaving the oil and gas industry in Aberdeen, Chris Herd built IT asset management platform Firstbase that was acquired by San Francisco-headquartered AppDirect last year.  So the maxim, “If you build it, they will come”, from the Eighties movie Field of Dreams rings true - you don’t have to be in Silicon Valley to scale amazing tech startups.

Having said that, in spite of a catalogue of individual company success stories like Cultivate, ENOUGH, and Firstbase, as a nation we are still seeing relatively few scaleups going on to achieve truly global success.   

In this column only a few weeks ago, prominent tech C-suite Richard Lennox put it like this: “We haven’t yet cracked the code of creating global-scale businesses” in an op-ed headlined, “How Can We Fix Scotland’s Big Scaleup Problem?”.

Artificial intelligence is enabling some tech startups to gain traction much quicker than ever before, so for example a small AI-enabled tech team can be ten times more productive.  So, it was interesting to hear from Laura Bernal Vergara, chief of staff at Edinburgh-based Malted AI, about the work they are doing around small language models (SLMs).

We covered so much at Barclays the other night that it would be hard to faithfully digest that here, but I hope that each of the panelists will take the opportunity to write for this column in the weeks and months ahead.

What is clear is that we need more of the kind of interaction that took place at Glasgow Tech Week, and very probably on a more regular basis, so that founders can continually learn from other peers, and share playbooks on how we can succeed together - faster and stronger.

Lastly, a shout out to Alisdair Gunn, the director of the Glasgow City Innovation District and the chief architect of Glasgow Tech Week.  Bravo!

Putting AI power into the hands of postgrads, by Nick Freer

It was good to see international press coverage last month for a CodeBase-run deep tech initiative aimed at bridging the innovation gap between university postgraduates and NHS Scotland.

AI Discovery, delivered by CodeBase via its Techscaler programme in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh, University of Glasgow, and NHS Scotland, will help postgrads harness the latest AI technologies and build AI-enabled startups that can address some of the greatest challenges faced by the NHS.

As Yaheya Shafti, a University of Glasgow research assistant working on radar and machine learning for healthcare applications, puts it: “AI is unlocking new possibilities that will transform healthcare.  In my work, I see researchers developing a wide range of AI-driven innovations, each with unique potential to improve healthcare delivery.”

In my own spheres, I’ve seen firsthand the growing success of AI-enabled startups like Infix Support, led by consultant anaesthetist Dr Matthew Freer, who also happens to be one of younger brothers, as the company rolls out its operating theatre efficiency software across Scotland’s NHS Health Boards.

The equation starts to get even more interesting for startups like Infix when they begin to gain international traction, and Infix has some exciting news along these lines in the pipeline.

As David Lowe, DIrector of Clinical Innovation at the University of Glasgow and Clinical Lead Health CSO at The Scottish Government, framed things when commenting on the recent NHS Scotland AI initiative: “We believe that by empowering innovative minds with the tools, resources, and support they need, we can accelerate the development of transformative technologies that will address some of the most pressing challenges facing the NHS and global healthcare systems today.”

Of course, in addition to healthcare, AI is empowering every other sector of business and the economy.  While no one could doubt Scotland’s impressive credentials in AI research and academia, we are never going to be a superpower in artificial intelligence.  However, there’s no reason we can’t be part of the global conversation.   

One pathway to AI success for Scotland is via VC-backed startups that can scale, providing future economy jobs and economic value for the nation.  As sagely pointed out by Wordsmith AI CEO and founder Ross McNairn in this column a few weeks’ back, there are certain pieces that need to be put in place to position Scotland to reach its potential, not least around the people talent required to fuel an AI economy here.

“AI is a talent game”, wrote McNairn, “and its most critical asset is its people.  The best AI engineers, researchers and entrepreneurs are highly mobile, well paid, and in global demand.  Countries that understand this are creating the most favourable conditions to attract talent.”

Lawyer turned coder and tech founder, Ross McNairn is a voice that should be listened to in this area, having previously helped to scale three tech unicorns - TravelPerk, letgo, and Skyscaner.  And backed by Silicon Valley venture capital firm Index Ventures, Wordsmith’s AI platform for in-house lawyers is set to make a big impact in the world of corporate law.