CreateFuture, Scotland’s largest AI consultancy, has launched Scotland First, a programme designed to help Scottish organisations move beyond AI experimentation and accelerate AI adoption at enterprise scale.
Drawing on high-level industry partnerships with Anthropic, AWS, and OpenAI, the firm is connecting Scottish businesses directly with the expertise of the world’s leading AI labs on the latest models.
Scotland First aims to convene, champion and deliver Scotland’s business-led AI transformation. It brings together the leaders, partners and capabilities needed to turn AI into measurable business value.
CreateFuture has particular depth in finance, iGaming, travel and the public sector, with a client list that includes NatWest, Barclays, SSE, FanDuel, Skyscanner, Royal London and Aggreko.
Since April 2026, CreateFuture has been part of Dublin-based international technology group Version 1, a 4,250-person group with revenues of more than £500 million.
Darren Dalrymple, Industry Director at CreateFuture and OpenAI Codex Ambassador for Scotland, said: “We’re asking what needs to change for a Scottish organisation to get real value from AI.
“Scotland has an incredible opportunity with world-class universities, exceptional technical talent and established businesses operating on a global stage.
“But using AI and adopting it across an economy are two very different things. The next challenge is helping Scottish businesses fundamentally rethink how they operate …
“CreateFuture is drawing on direct experience to lead Scotland First, taking AI out of a lab and into production within complex and regulated industries.
“We have developed our own approach to removing the three main bottlenecks when scaling AI: understanding complex legacy estates, connecting fragmented data, and delivering AI-assisted software at pace.”
CreateFuture is an OpenAI Select Partner and a preferred Services Partner of Anthropic, only one of five firms across Europe to hold this accreditation.
“Built and proven in client work”, added Dalrymple, “we’ve added significant depth in our business, not through internal claims but by working with the models themselves. We now have hundreds of externally certified consultants across Anthropic, AWS, and OpenAI, and thousands of related certifications..”
Founded in Edinburgh 16 years ago, CreateFuture has firmly kept its roots in Scotland’s technology community and a track record of delivering AI into production for clients including NatWest, Barclays, SSE, FanDuel, Skyscanner, Royal London and Aggreko.
With around 200 people based in Scotland, the firm is already a major contributor to the country’s technology ecosystem. Scotland First builds on that foundation, bringing together business leaders, technology partners and practitioners around a shared ambition to accelerate Scotland’s AI-enabled future.
“We’re not talking about this from the sidelines,” added Dalrymple. “Right now, inside some of the most complex and regulated businesses in the UK, we’re seeing AI change how work actually gets done. That means legacy systems modernised in weeks rather than years, software shipped in a fraction of the time it took previously. That’s the gap Scotland needs to close, and we know how to close it because we’re doing it.”
Scotland First is supported by Version 1, the international technology group that CreateFuture joined in April 2026. The combined organisation brings together more than 4,250 people and over £500 million in revenue, providing Scottish businesses with access to greater delivery capability, international expertise and experience transforming complex organisations.
Euan Andrews, CEO and Founder of CreateFuture, said: “Scotland is our home, and we’re proud of what we’ve built here. With our experience and relationships with Anthropic, AWS, and OpenAI, we can bring world-leading AI expertise closer to Scottish businesses. We want Scotland to be recognised not just for AI innovation, but for how successfully we put it to work.”