£2.1 million in funding from the Welsh Government will provide dedicated support to help small and medium-sized businesses across Wales adopt artificial intelligence (AI) and take full advantage of its potential.
This funding will enable small businesses, entrepreneurs and microenterprises in Wales to ethically and effectively integrate AI into their business practices, increasing productivity, innovation and competitiveness.
Business Wales Services will receive £600,000 to develop and deliver an AI awareness and adoption support program implementing recommendations from a recent short-term review into small business productivity and AI adoption.
A further £500,000 will be provided to use AI to significantly enhance both the tourism and events sectors in Wales. The investment includes an AI pollination project to accelerate the uptake of artificial intelligence by event organizers in Wales, in collaboration with experts from Hartley Center Cardiff Hub (HCCH) and Cardiff University Digital Transformation Innovation Institute (DTII).
It will complement its tourism digital expertise with face-to-face workshops designed to provide up to 1,000 Welsh tourism micro, small and medium enterprises with practical AI skills for digital marketing and content creation.
A further £1 million will provide an AI upskilling offer developed through the Flexible Skills Program (FSP). It focuses on closing the digital skills gap and supports inclusive growth by ensuring access to training across regions and industries, with employers paying just 25% of AI training costs and 50% for other FSP courses.
Swansea-based Something Different Wholesale is one company that is already implementing AI to enhance its operations.
With a turnover of £11m, a team of 75 staff and 12,000 active B2B customers around the world, the giftware company uses AI to process data, provide market insights about products, automate time-consuming tasks and free up staff to focus their expertise on more valuable ways to deliver customer service.
We are also launching a new global website that uses AI to translate web pages into different languages.
Jane Wallace-Jones, founder of Something Different Wholesale, said:
“Artificial intelligence is advancing rapidly, and companies that successfully implement and integrate AI into their processes will gain a significant competitive advantage. However, many small and medium-sized businesses lack the in-house expertise needed to effectively leverage the latest technology.
“This Welsh Government funding provides a valuable opportunity for Welsh companies like ours to receive high quality AI training and improve productivity. This will drive growth and innovation in Wales and create more job opportunities.”
Rebecca Evans, Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Energy and Planning, said:
“This significant funding builds on the strong showcase of Welsh innovation, technology and ambition in dynamic and forward-looking sectors at Wales Tech Week and the Wales Investment Summit.
“AI is transforming the business sector, increasing productivity and driving change. This program of AI awareness, adoption and upskilling will help ensure small and medium-sized enterprises across all sectors in Wales are ready to optimize the potential of emerging AI technologies in a responsible, inclusive and ambitious way.”
“This will play a key role in delivering the Wales AI Plan, enabling people, communities and businesses across Wales to realize the benefits of artificial intelligence.”
Skills Minister Jack Sargent said:
“We recognize the huge potential of AI to drive business development and economic growth and are determined to do everything we can to support the ambitions of small and medium-sized enterprises in Wales to develop the skills they need for future success.
“Our hugely successful flexible skills program is already benefiting thousands of businesses across Wales and this £1 million funding will help close the digital skills gap and accelerate the ethical and responsible uptake of AI in a rapidly evolving digital economy.”
