The Business AI Alliance, a group bringing together sector-based organisations to shaping national AI policy and act as a voice for SMEs, launches today, UKTN can exclusively reveal.
The group’s initial focus is to shape a credible, strategic narrative around AI’s economic potential and to ensure the UK’s over 3,000 AI-focused SMEs are represented in government and industry discussions amidst big tech dominance in the space.
The Alliance is a member-led coalition of AI experts from startups, scaleups, academia and industry. Early members include founding organisations like 4most, University of Glasgow, Inference Group, 51degrees, CreateFuture, IOA Foundation, Intriq and Automated Analytics.
“AI will define the next chapter of the UK economy, but too often the people who actually design, build and deliver it aren’t in the room when strategy is set,” says Colin Carmichael, client partner at 4most and founding member of The Business AI Alliance.
“The UK’s AI SMEs are experts, yet their perspectives are frequently overshadowed by larger corporate voices. Added to this, almost 90% of AI businesses expect revenue growth in the next 12 months, yet more than half say limited investment is holding them back.”
Carmichael says the Business AI Alliance is set to change this – bringing together the country’s most capable AI minds, the alliance will influence policy, champion growth and create the conditions for a “thriving, competitive AI sector.”
SMEs ‘unheard force in AI’
Using SME success stories around AI adoption as its foundation, the Alliance members will support wider SMEs in making the most of the technology in addition to providing them a voice in public policy.
“I co-founded the Business AI Alliance as a reaction to UK SMEs being a powerful but unheard force in AI,” says Gordon Baggott, chief data scientist at Smart Data Foundry.
“As the community has grown into an influential, diverse and collaborative team of experts, I see how our collective voice is increasingly influencing policymakers to support UK AI-focused SMEs. The Business AI Alliance provides a unique platform for AI experts to ensure the UK can become a global centre for AI focused growth.”
According to a report by Microsoft and WPI Strategy released in May, British SMEs could unlock as much as £78.1bn in economic value by adopting AI technologies.
