Most Scottish businesses already using artificial intelligence say it has made them more efficient, according to research published by NatWest Group.
The bank’s AI Adoption Report found that 82% of Scottish respondents reported increased efficiency and 80% increased innovation. Sixty per cent reported higher revenue and 66% higher profitability as a result of using AI.
The Scottish findings are drawn from 125 businesses in a UK-wide online survey of 1,360 firms already using AI, ranging from start-ups and small businesses to mid-sized companies with turnover of up to £500 million. Fieldwork took place between 6 March and 16 April 2026. The report notes that, given smaller sample sizes in some regions, minor regional variations should be viewed as indicative.
Across the UK, 44% of businesses surveyed already use AI and a further 41% plan to. However, just 6% of current users are transforming how they operate, while 29% remain at a very early, experimental stage, either building awareness or running limited pilots.
The report links this shallow adoption to skills gaps, limited investment and in-house expertise, uncertainty over returns, and concerns about security, governance and accountability. Businesses with more than 100 employees are nearly twice as likely to use AI.
Location matters much less, according to the research. Region explains only 8% of the variation in AI use, compared with 39% for headcount and 24% for turnover.
The report says the benefits scale quickly as adoption deepens. Businesses at the early piloting phase report average time savings of less than 20%, while those further advanced often report average savings of 61-70%.
In his foreword, NatWest Group chief executive Paul Thwaite writes: “Whilst AI use is widespread, our research highlights that many smaller businesses remain in the early planning or experimental stages of adoption, lacking the same access to investment, skills and specialist partnerships that larger firms benefit from. Closing this gap is critical for UK growth.”
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The report also describes a generative audio-visual AI Spending Insights tool that is about to be tested with Royal Bank of Scotland customers before being rolled out more widely across the bank.
Alongside the business research, a survey of 2,422 NatWest Retail customers found that 71% use AI tools at least occasionally. The ability to connect to a real person when needed was the most important trust factor, cited by 81% of customers.
