AI Challenge
The Futurescot AI Challenge 2026 is a competition to bring together Scottish public sector organisations to solve problems through the use of Artificial Intelligence.
The challenge process
The Futurescot AI Challenge is designed to help public sector organisations move from a promising AI idea to a clearer, more developed proof of concept. From the opening of entries in April through to the final stage at Digital Scotland in November, the process gives applicants the opportunity to shape their ideas, learn from peers, and understand what makes a strong submission.
Alongside the application window, we will run a series of sector-focused webinars to help organisations explore relevant use cases, reflect on common challenges, and consider how ideas could be developed into practical, scalable proofs of concept. Following shortlisting, selected organisations will be supported through the proof of concepts phase, before the Challenge culminates in a final showcase of the finalists at Digital Scotland 2026.
Timeline
You be the judge
In 2026, we’re taking a different approach to how the AI Challenge winner is selected.
Rather than relying on a traditional judging panel, this year we plan to introduce an Audience Choice vote in advance of Digital Scotland 2026.
Videos from the shortlisted organisations will be published on the AI Challenge website, giving the wider public sector community the opportunity to review the ideas and vote ahead of the final event. This approach is intended to create a more inclusive and considered process, giving people time to reflect on the shortlisted proofs of concept and the public service challenges they address.
Further details on the voting process will be confirmed after entries close, including how votes will be captured and validated. The Audience Choice winner will then be announced at Digital Scotland 2026 in November.
Judging criteria
Entries will be assessed at the shortlisting stage against a consistent set of criteria. These criteria have been shaped to reflect the priorities set out in Scotland’s AI Strategy, alongside the practical themes identified in Storm ID’s Automate Tasks, Not Jobs white paper, including impact, responsibility, scalability, reuse and deliverability. They will also help inform how shortlisted ideas are presented to the public as part of the Audience Choice vote.
Social impact
Potential to deliver meaningful improvements for citizens, communities, service users and staff, including measurable gains in service quality, productivity, resilience or workforce capacity.
Responsibility, Ethics & Trust
Alignment with core principles and practices outlined in Scotland's National AI Strategy, AI Register and AI Playbook
Scalability & reusability
Shows strong potential to scale within the organisation or be adopted elsewhere across the public sector, particularly where the approach makes use of reusable components, shared capabilities, repeatable delivery patterns or common service problems.
Innovation & applicability
Applies data and AI in a thoughtful and effective way to a real public service challenge, especially where it focuses on automating tasks rather than jobs, augmenting workforce capacity, or combining existing tools and components in a smart, high-value way.
Feasibility & value for money
Presents a realistic, affordable and deliverable route to implementation, with a clear understanding of dependencies, constraints, expected benefits and overall value for money.
Sustainability
Supports sustainable public service reform over time, including consideration of operational sustainability, maintainability and alignment with Net Zero and carbon reduction ambitions.
2025 Challenge
The 2025 Futurescot AI Challenge demonstrated how strong AI ideas can emerge from very different parts of Scotland’s public sector. VisitScotland, NHS Grampian and Dumfries and Galloway Council were shortlisted by our expert panel and supported by Storm ID to test and develop their ideas into proofs of concept with real potential for public service impact.
The Challenge came to a close at Digital Scotland 2025 on 19 November 2025 at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre, where the finalist teams presented their work during an AI leadership session. For prospective 2026 applicants, their stories provide a valuable starting point for thinking about where AI could help improve services, return time to the workforce and tackle real operational challenges.
VisitScotland
“Winning the Futurescot AI Challenge is such a fantastic achievement for the VisitScotland team and recognises our commitment to supporting and strengthening Scotland’s visitor economy. The evolution of AI is rapidly changing how visitors research and plan their trips but this challenge gave us the opportunity to explore how we can use AI responsibly to elevate that experience and create authentic and personalised recommendations that benefit every region across Scotland. Thank you to Futurescot and Storm ID – we're excited to see how tools like this can benefit the industry and our visitor economy.”
Sara Sinclair
Senior Business Support Systems Engineer
VisitScotland
NHS Grampian
“The AI Challenge provided a valuable opportunity to explore how an AI-powered colorectal cancer triage tool could address a critical bottleneck in the cancer care pathway and helped to validate how AI could support initial assessment and speed up the referrals process.”
Matthew Newman
Paediatric Surgeon
NHS Grampian
Dumfries and Galloway Council
“The Futurescot AI Challenge gave Dumfries and Galloway Council a valuable opportunity to explore how we could improve services, work more efficiently and achieve better outcomes for our communities. The PoC demonstrated that AI could reduce manual workloads, speed up response times and provide more personalised, proactive services in revenues and benefits supporting our wider ambition to modernise public services.”
Lorna Campbell
Service Manager Revenues and Benefits
Dumfries and Galloway Council
About the challenge
Artificial Intelligence (AI) can help public sector organisations work more productively, make better use of limited resources and improve the services they deliver. The Futurescot AI Challenge is designed to help organisations across Scotland turn promising AI ideas into practical use cases and proofs of concept that can deliver real operational and service impact.
The Challenge is open to all public sector organisations in Scotland, including the Scottish Government and its agencies and non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs), Local Government, Health and Social Care, and arm’s-length organisations (ALEOs). Shortlisted organisations will have the opportunity to progress their ideas through to proof of concept with Storm ID.
The Futurescot AI Challenge was conceived by Futurescot and our technology partner, Storm ID, built on a shared ambition to accelerate responsible, high-value use of AI across Scotland’s public sector.
In 2026, the Challenge will culminate in a more participative final stage, giving public sector peers the opportunity to review shortlisted proofs of concept and take part in an Audience Choice vote ahead of Digital Scotland 2026. Further details on the process will be shared once entries have closed.