Reimagining public services with AI. The Futurescot AI Challenge returns for 2026.

Storm ID is delighted to be partnering with Futurescot on the AI Challenge for the third year running.

The Challenge has quickly become a practical platform for Scottish public sector organisations to explore how AI can help solve real-world problems. Previous years have shown the strength, ambition and creativity already present across Scotland’s public services, from improving access to cultural heritage and parliamentary engagement to supporting complaints insight, tourism planning and service improvement.

This year feels especially important. Across Scotland, the Budget, Spending Review and Public Service Reform agenda are all pointing in the same direction: services need to become more joined-up, more sustainable and more responsive to people’s needs.

AI will not solve those challenges on its own. But used responsibly, practically and with clear human oversight, it can help public sector teams reduce avoidable manual effort, make better use of data, improve access to services and free skilled professionals to focus on the work where human judgement matters most.

That is what makes the Futurescot AI Challenge so exciting. It gives organisations the space to bring forward ideas, test what is possible, and turn promising use cases into practical proofs of concept.

What makes a strong AI Challenge idea?

Over the last two years, the strongest ideas have not started with technology. They have started with a clear problem.

The most compelling use cases tend to combine a real service challenge with a practical route to delivery. They are focused, understandable and grounded in the day-to-day experience of staff and service users.

We would encourage organisations to think about five things.

1. Focus on high-volume, high-impact work
   Look for areas where teams are dealing with repeatable, time-consuming tasks: reviewing information, routing enquiries, summarising records, producing reports, checking documents or managing routine correspondence. These are often the places where AI can release capacity quickly and measurably.
   
   
2. Connect the idea to real priorities
   The best use cases are not side experiments. They support the organisation’s strategic goals, whether that is reducing backlogs, improving citizen experience, supporting preventative services, strengthening decision-making or making better use of existing data.
   
   
3. Understand the process first
   A good AI use case needs a clear understanding of the current workflow: what happens, who is involved, where the delays are, and what information is needed at each stage. Perfect data is not always the starting point. In many cases, AI can help organisations identify gaps, improve consistency and build stronger data foundations over time.
   
   
4. Design with users, not just for them
   Frontline teams should be involved early. Their insight helps shape solutions that are useful, trusted and realistic to adopt. Co-design also helps organisations think through how roles, responsibilities and safeguards may need to evolve as AI becomes part of the workflow.
   
   
5. Think about reuse and scale
   Many public service challenges are shared across organisations. A strong idea should have the potential to be reused, adapted or scaled, whether across teams, services or sectors.
   
   That matters as Scotland continues to move towards shared services, common digital components and more joined-up delivery.

Common AI opportunity areas

Across public services, we are seeing several recurring patterns where AI can make a practical difference.

• Content and knowledge generation
  Helping teams create reports, summaries, briefings, correspondence and guidance more quickly and consistently.
  
  
• Assessment and triage
  Supporting the review, categorisation and routing of applications, referrals, enquiries or cases so that the right work reaches the right team at the right time.
  
  
• Workflow and case management automation
  Reducing administrative burden in structured processes, improving throughput and creating more time for higher-value frontline activity.
  
  
• Customer and citizen service
  Improving how organisations handle calls, messages and digital interactions, making services easier to access and more responsive.

These patterns appear across health, local government, justice, policing, culture, tourism and wider public services. That is why the AI Challenge is such a valuable opportunity: it helps surface ideas that are not only useful to one organisation, but potentially valuable across the wider system.

Taking the first step

You do not need a fully formed solution to take part.

A strong submission can start with a clear problem, an idea for how AI might help, and a willingness to explore what a better service could look like.

We are especially keen to see ideas that:

• address real operational pressure
• improve outcomes for citizens or staff
• can be tested through a focused proof of concept
• could be reused or scaled beyond one team or organisation
• show how AI can be used responsibly, safely and practically

Storm ID will support organisations throughout the Challenge, helping to shape promising ideas into robust, high-impact submissions.

We are looking forward to seeing the ideas that come forward this year, and to working with Futurescot and Scotland’s public sector innovators to explore what is possible.

Submit your idea at aichallenge.scot or get in touch to discuss it further at ai@stormid.com.