AI as a disruptive force: what it means for Scottish businesses
Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping Scotland’s business landscape, from banking to whisky production. Paul Pierotti, a veteran data specialist, tells us how businesses can navigate this disruptive tech force for good.
AI: the new customer experience
"AI is the new user experience (UX)," says Pierotti, describing how artificial intelligence will transform customer interactions.
He envisions a future where AI becomes a personal concierge, managing our daily decisions:
"You’re not going to use an individual company's website, for example, you’re going to use an AI concierge that will meet your needs. Business leaders need to make sure their offering is on the radar of the AI concierge."
This shift poses both opportunities and challenges for Scottish businesses, like traditional banks. "Many banks struggle today with personalised services. This is getting harder as they lose transactional data to companies like Revolut," Pierotti warns.
He predicts banks will risk becoming mere utilities unless they transform: "Customers will gravitate to where they get the best experience (and one that is enabled by AI). This demands a nimbleness which fintech does better than large banks."
Traditional Scottish industries embracing innovation
Scotland's traditional industries aren't immune to transformation, either. For whisky production, Pierotti draws parallels with biopharma:
"There are thousands of devices and bits of information coming off the end-to-end supply chain and there’s the ability to capture that and create insights."
In one example from the life sciences sector, Pierotti describes how AI improved production efficiency:
For tourism, the opportunity lies in experience enhancement.
"How do you win the experience of somebody wanting to come to Scotland and how do we maximise on the insights that provides?" Pierotti asks, suggesting AI could revolutionise how visitors experience Scottish attractions.
The skills challenge
The AI revolution brings significant workforce implications, he says. "I like the quote: 'AI won't steal your job, but people using it may'.”
Pierotti also sees new opportunities, "Individuals who are less technical will be managing the AI code and everything else rather than doing it, which is both scary and exciting."
Scotland's competitive edge in AI
Scotland has several advantages in the global AI landscape, particularly in education and engineering.
However, he cautions against protecting declining industries: "Scotland's mistake during my lifetime has been to to protect jobs that we could never protect."
Instead, he advocates for strategic focus on future opportunities: "We need to be very measured in the jobs and the areas we go after, which I think Scotland's a lot better at now."
The path forward
For Scottish businesses looking to adopt AI, Pierotti outlines several implementation paths, noting an important reality:
"It's really expensive to build a large language model (LLM). Most app companies and AI start-ups are not building their LLMs. They are taking Google's, Microsoft's, or whoever's, and building a skin on top of it."
This creates opportunities for Scottish start-ups to focus on specialised applications: "As the user, you might never know it, but that's the reality."
For whatever it is – medical treatments, financial services regulation verification – they have the dataset and the knowledge to add on to the LLM."
Looking ahead: Scotland in the era of AI
While AI presents tremendous opportunities, Pierotti emphasises the need for strong regulation: "There are huge opportunities and there are huge, terrifying monsters in the corners of the AI landscape, too."
For Scotland to succeed in the era of AI, businesses need to be more assertive while maintaining a clear focus on specific, achievable goals.
The country's educational might and engineering muscle provide a solid platform for future growth – if properly leveraged.
For Scotland to maintain competitiveness, business leaders need to consider:
- Data sovereignty and storage requirements
- Integration capabilities with global AI platforms
- Scalability of AI solutions
- Security and privacy frameworks
- Technical skills development pathways
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