Paul Cheek, senior lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management, returned to Aberdeen this week to tackle one of the biggest gaps in business today: the jump from using AI to being transformed by it.
New research shows the size of that gap. NatWest Group's AI Adoption Report, published earlier this week found that 82% of Scottish businesses using AI report efficiency gains. Across the UK, only 6% of businesses have reached the point where AI transforms how they operate.
Founders from across North-east Scotland joined Paul for AI for Venture Growth, a series of practical, hands-on workshops convened by Opportunity North East (ONE). The sessions focused on putting AI to work where it counts, from customers to operations, with human judgement firmly in the driving seat.
David Jamieson, founder of Salus Technical, works with organisations to understand and manage the risk of major accidents. He said: "The workshop made it clear we need to scale up our primary market research and make it more rigorous. We'll run it more often, learn about our markets faster, and move a lot more quickly as a business."
Kimberley Mackenzie, founder of Formartine Bio Limited, builds accessible tools that help horse owners and veterinary professionals monitor equine health and spot changes earlier. She said: "AI has massively expanded what feels possible for a small company like Formartine Bio. My next challenge is to focus that potential into action: building the right things, automating what I can, and concentrating my own time where it adds the most value."
Christopher Geary founded Soda Fountain Ltd, the Aberdeen drinks company behind Life Blood kombucha. He said: "Paul's sessions have changed how I run Life Blood. It's not about getting AI to do tasks, it's about building it into the core of the business. I'm one person running production, sales, marketing and ecommerce, and AI gives me the output of a whole team."