Chair's Introduction
An opportunity to build AI capability into our region’s next chapter
There is currently considerable uncertainty around the future structure of local government in Hampshire and the Solent. The Government has withdrawn its previous decision on Local Government Reorganisation in our region and paused implementation while it reviews the programme.
Whatever structure ultimately emerges, I believe the changes ahead represent an important opportunity.
The organisations that lead our region in the future will have an opportunity to think differently about how technology and AI can support economic growth, develop the skills of our workforce and improve the delivery of public services. At the same time, that adoption needs to be accompanied by good governance and an inclusive approach that ensures the benefits are available across our communities.
The AI Growth Alliance has recently met with the team establishing the Hampshire and the Solent Combined County Authority, and we look forward to supporting the Authority as its plans develop. We also want to work constructively with our existing and future local authorities, whatever the outcome of the current review.
That makes some of the questions in this edition particularly timely. How do we measure whether a regional AI ecosystem is genuinely developing? And as AI adoption increases, how do we ensure that the skills, governance and organisational capability needed to use it well develop alongside it?
How do we know if the ecosystem is growing?
Northern Ireland has just published the second edition of its AI Capability Census, providing a rare opportunity to see how a regional AI economy has changed against an established baseline.
The headline figures are impressive. The Census identifies 400 firms now commercially engaged with AI, compared with 198 in the inaugural study. Estimated AI-related employment has increased by 79% to 2,402 full-time equivalent roles, while the estimated contribution to the Northern Ireland economy has risen from £82 million to £214 million in GVA.
That means Northern Ireland has already exceeded the Census’s previous moderate-growth scenario of more than 2,000 AI professionals and £200 million in AI-related GVA by 2028.
Those numbers attracted the headlines, understandably. But for me, the most interesting aspect of the report is not the size of the numbers themselves. It is that Northern Ireland now has something against which it can measure change.
The first Census established a baseline. The second can begin to show where the ecosystem is growing, where capability is becoming established and, equally importantly, where gaps remain.
That raises an obvious question for us in Hampshire and the Solent: how will we know whether our own AI ecosystem is genuinely developing?
What is Northern Ireland measuring?
What makes the Census particularly useful is that it looks beyond the number of businesses that describe themselves as AI companies.
The 400 firms identified are divided into three broad groups: businesses whose primary proposition is built around AI; established businesses embedding AI into existing products and services; and organisations demonstrating AI capability through recruitment, internal adoption or research and development.
The Census then looks at the ecosystem from a number of different perspectives, including employment, economic contribution, investment, geography, skills, sectors, partnerships and the extent to which AI is being adopted by the wider business community.
This produces a more nuanced picture than the headline growth figures alone suggest. Much of Northern Ireland’s economic contribution from AI, for example, comes from established organisations incorporating AI into their existing activities rather than from dedicated AI companies. The researchers also acknowledge that some of the measured growth reflects improved identification of existing activity and organisations increasingly recognising digital and data roles as AI-related.
That distinction matters. Measuring a developing technology is difficult, particularly when AI is increasingly becoming part of existing jobs, products and business processes rather than sitting within a clearly defined “AI sector”.
The value of the Census is therefore not that it provides a perfect measure of Northern Ireland’s AI economy. It is that it establishes a consistent framework through which changes in that economy can begin to be understood over time.
Measurement also reveals the gaps
A useful regional baseline should not simply tell us where growth is happening. It should also help identify where development is slower or where intervention may be needed.
Northern Ireland’s Census does exactly that. Despite the substantial increase in measured AI activity, around 45% of Northern Ireland businesses still report that they are not currently using AI. The region also attracts less than 1% of UK AI equity investment by value, despite AI firms identified by the Census raising £158 million since 2024.
The picture is uneven geographically too. Belfast accounts for 68% of the AI firms identified and 87% of AI-related employment, demonstrating how regional growth can remain concentrated even when the overall numbers are moving strongly in the right direction.
There are important differences between types of businesses as well. Many of Northern Ireland’s dedicated AI companies remain small or at an early stage of development, while a significant proportion of the growth in employment and economic contribution is coming from established organisations expanding their use of AI.
These are not necessarily signs of failure. They are examples of why measurement matters.
A regional AI strategy needs to understand not only whether the overall ecosystem is growing, but where that growth is taking place, who is participating in it and where the gaps remain.
So what should we measure in Hampshire and the Solent?
This brings the discussion back to our own region.
The AI Growth Alliance exists in part because Hampshire and the Solent already have considerable strengths in AI, data and related technologies. We have universities and research institutions, major technology and defence employers, an extensive SME community and growing activity across sectors including healthcare, maritime, creative industries and public services.
But if we want to strengthen that ecosystem, we also need to understand how it is changing.
What would we expect to be measurably different in Hampshire and the Solent in two or three years if our AI ecosystem is genuinely developing?
We might expect to see more businesses applying AI to real operational challenges, greater demand for AI-related skills, stronger links between universities and industry, more startups successfully scaling, increased investment and evidence that AI adoption is spreading across different sectors, sizes of organisation and parts of the region.
A great example of the application of AI within our region is SeaBot Maritime who were representing AIGA and our region at the Farnborough International Airshow recently.
We might also want to understand whether that activity is translating into economic value: increased productivity, new jobs and businesses, improved public services and the ability to attract and retain investment and talent.
At present, we do not have a single regional baseline that brings those different measures together. That is not necessarily a problem to solve by creating another large research exercise. But Northern Ireland’s experience does raise the question of whether a relatively small number of consistently tracked measures could give us a much clearer picture of how our own ecosystem is developing.
I would therefore like our Ecosystem Development workstream to consider what a useful baseline for Hampshire and the Solent might look like, what we can already measure, and what we would want to be able to track over time.
From Adoption to Maturity
Establishing what we measure is only part of the challenge.
The Northern Ireland Census provides useful evidence about the scale and spread of AI activity, including how many businesses are adopting AI. But there is another question that matters if we want to understand whether a regional AI ecosystem is genuinely developing: how well is AI being adopted?
An organisation experimenting with ChatGPT or providing employees with access to Copilot is using AI. That does not necessarily mean AI has become an established organisational capability, supported by the right skills, data, governance, ownership and processes.
That distinction between AI adoption and AI maturity is becoming increasingly important.
New research published this week into AI use within the UK public sector provides an interesting illustration of that gap, and is the subject of our next article.
AI Adoption is not the same as AI Maturity
The distinction between adoption and maturity is not just theoretical.
New research among more than 200 UK public-sector IT professionals across government, healthcare and defence suggests that AI deployment is moving faster than the governance needed to support it.
Only 8% of respondents described AI as fully embedded and actively governed, while 24% said governance was lagging behind adoption. Just 16% reported full compliance with Secure by Design principles, and 41% identified insufficient visibility into AI behaviour as a major security vulnerability.
The issue is not necessarily a lack of guidance. The UK Government’s AI Playbook already sets out expectations around senior risk ownership, human control, lifecycle management, skills and security. The challenge is translating those principles into everyday organisational practice.
For the Alliance, this reinforces the point made in our lead article. Measuring how many organisations are using AI tells us something about regional adoption, but not necessarily about regional capability.
A region in which lots of people use AI is not necessarily the same as a region with mature AI capability.
As we consider how to measure AI development in Hampshire and the Solent, we should therefore think about the quality and depth of adoption as well as its scale: whether organisations have the skills, data, governance, ownership and processes needed to turn access to AI into sustainable value.
🗓️ Upcoming Events
AIGA Strategy Update & 1st Anniversary celebration!
This autumn marks one year since organisations from across Hampshire and the Solent first came together to explore the creation of what became the AI Growth Alliance.
On 10 November, we will return to the University of Southampton for an afternoon bringing the Alliance together to review progress, provide an update on our developing strategy and priorities, and look ahead to the next phase of activity.
The event will also be an opportunity to mark the Alliance’s first year and recognise the contribution made by the businesses, universities, public-sector organisations and individuals who have helped develop it.
Further details, including timings and registration, will follow shortly.
Event: October 10th 2026
Location: Place Innovation Lab, Engineering Centre, University of Southampton.
A Personal Note
The 1st Anniversary celebration will be an opportunity to reflect on what the AI Growth Alliance fundamental aims are, and whether we are set up to succeed.
We have benefitted from some extraordinary levels of commitment over this first year and it is time to thank and congratulate everyone who has played a part in getting us this far.
I believe we will be able to make some announcements at the strategy meeting that will provide new impetus and drive as we continue to ensure that our region is successful at growing our businesses, our skills and our economy inclusively, for all our citizens.
Thanks for your support.
David Patterson
Chair, AI Growth Alliance
This week's Newsletter was written by David Patterson using a structure suggested by ChatGPT Sol 5.6 and edited using Grammarly. All images created using Canva and this newsletter is produced and managed using beehiiv.