Public vote opens to choose winner of the Futurescot AI Challenge 2026 

For the first time, Scotland’s public sector community will decide the winner, choosing between proofs of concept from Fife Council, Qualifications Scotland and the Scottish Courts & Tribunals Service.

Voting is now open in the Futurescot AI Challenge 2026, with the winner to be chosen by public sector colleagues from across Scotland.

The Audience Choice vote runs from today, Monday 2 November, until Monday 16 November. Voters are invited to watch short videos from the three finalists at aichallenge.scot before choosing the project they believe should win. The winner will be announced at Digital Scotland 2026 at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre on 24 November.

The Challenge, run by Futurescot with its Challenge partner, Edinburgh tech consultancy Storm ID, helps public sector organisations take a promising AI idea and develop it into a working proof of concept (POC).

Following a strong response from across Scotland’s public sector, three organisations were shortlisted. Entries were assessed against criteria including potential impact, responsible use of AI, scalability, reuse and deliverability. Each finalist has since workshopped their ideas with Storm ID to build and test their POCs.

The finalists

• Fife Council has explored how AI and automation could support the checking of school enrolment applications and documentation, reducing the administrative workload on school staff.
• Qualifications Scotland has used AI to analyse thousands of marker reports, identifying common themes and generating consistent insights to support assessment and teaching.
• The Scottish Courts & Tribunals Service has used AI and large language models to assess legacy applications, helping to determine whether each system should be retained, refactored or replaced.

Kevin O’Sullivan, editor of Futurescot, said: “This year we wanted the people who know public services best to decide the winner. All three finalists have taken a real operational challenge and shown, in a matter of months, what AI could do to free up time and improve services. Now it’s over to the public sector community to watch the videos and tell us which one they think should win.”

Stewart Cruickshank, consulting director at Storm ID, said: “Scotland has a real opportunity to lead the way in how the public sector adopts AI. The real value isn’t just speeding up existing tasks. It’s rethinking how work gets done and how services reach people. Fife Council, Qualifications Scotland and the Scottish Courts & Tribunals Service have all shown practical, responsible ways to do that, and I’d encourage everyone to watch the videos and vote.”

The move to an Audience Choice vote is intended to make the final stage more inclusive. It gives the wider public sector community time to review each proof of concept and reflect on the public service challenges it addresses, rather than leaving the decision to a small panel.

The 2025 Challenge was won by VisitScotland, with NHS Grampian and Dumfries and Galloway Council also reaching the final.

Have your say

Watch the three finalist videos and cast your vote at aichallenge.scot. Voting closes on Monday 16 November.