Seòmar agus comataidhean

It is the same in politics. [Laughter.]

And institutional memory, as well.

Peter Proud is absolutely right that there is a discussion is to be had about power. I know that one of my colleagues will come in on that, so I will not steal her thunder, but he was absolutely right to bring it out.

I have a couple of questions about the public sector. You are sitting here as experts, and we are all in the public sector. Somebody referenced some of the work that the Scottish Government is doing, but—and this is an open question—in your opinion, to what extent do the Government and the public sector get AI? I ask that because, historically, particularly in the civil service, the culture is slow, deliberative, thoughtful and reflective. That has worked well in many areas, but to what extent could that prevailing culture, which, as I say, has great strengths, potentially be a weakness when we look at the exponential growth of AI? Sarah Ronald, you nodded, so you need to come in on that first.

You also referenced automation.

I will bring in Peter Proud for a generic sense of where he thinks that AI can add economic value.

Thank you so much for joining us. We have jumped right in with the heavy brogues, to use a Scottish phrase. I will just take things back up a level for the record, given that people will be watching this session and poring over the words that you use.

Sarah Ronald mentioned productivity growth, but that is an outcome, we hope, of using AI. I have a question for all the witnesses. What is your sense, in terms of your businesses, of the areas where you think that AI could add economic value? There is a whole range of areas, but automation and supply chains are examples. I would like to get on the record a sense of that from you before we continue. Sarah, could you go first?

You gave the example of a round-table meeting held about 18 months ago. You are right that the switch-off was clearly a burgeoning issue as long ago as that. I had picked up on that, too. I had no awareness of your work at that point, yet I had already determined that the switch-off was a significant issue for people in my constituency.

My point is that, based on what you have just described, you felt that you were doing a great deal of work and were seeking to make a difference, but I did not know about it. It might have been expected that members of this committee, in particular—given our alignment and my constituency interests—would have known about it. That plays into our comment about a general lack of awareness about what you are doing and about your social media footprint.

I say to the convener that am aware of time, but I want to ask about plans for this year.

You outlined your plan to look at markets that deliver for small businesses. I want to understand what you thought your primary focus might be within that, specifically rather than generally, because small businesses have fewer protections and rights. One example of that is around banking and commercial contracts, which, for small businesses, are classified as contracts of equals if they have a commercial loan. Those go through the Financial Conduct Authority, so you will not be able to do all that much about that area. There is already some provision in place for utilities, too. I am not clear what you thought you would be able to do for small businesses, and it would be useful to understand more about your plans.

Good morning, and thank you for joining us. I want to pick up on the thread on social media activity that my colleagues Gordon MacDonald and Murdo Fraser started.

I looked up Consumer Scotland’s footprint on LinkedIn. I did so because, although LinkedIn is changing, it is still largely considered to be a place for people in small and large businesses to connect. I was very surprised to see that I had only one connection with Consumer Scotland. I have thousands of connections on LinkedIn. I would have expected Consumer Scotland to have reached out to many people involved in business, so I am surprised that there was only one connection with me. I saw, too, that you have just 839 followers on LinkedIn.

That makes me wonder how on earth you will achieve the reach that you will need if you are to support small businesses, which is one of your focuses for the year ahead. LinkedIn is an extremely powerful tool, not just in making connections and targeting people; in recent years, its overall functionality has increased. My question is similar to those of my colleagues. In light of the work that you have planned for this year, do you plan to increase your presence on LinkedIn and use the platform more effectively to reach small businesses?

If I might interrupt for a minute, Sam Ghibaldan mentioned the RTS switch-off earlier. That was something that vexed my office a great deal, because many people in the Braes area in Falkirk East were concerned that they would be affected. I had extensive engagement with suppliers to make sure that the process would happen seamlessly.

I have recently checked my emails and, unless I am wrong—I am happy to be corrected—I did not receive any contact from Consumer Scotland. I see that Stephen Kerr is nodding in agreement. I would guess that, as a list MSP for that area, he also had a lot of contact from consumers there. I did not get any emails from yourselves to outline the work that you were doing, but I know that my office definitely did a great deal of work on the RTS switch-off because it was a big concern for people in the Braes. You specifically referenced that issue but, as a constituency MSP, I was not able to detect any influence or impact from yourselves on the issue.

My final question comes from an efficiency and effectiveness perspective. You have tie-ups with Citizens Advice Scotland and others. Would it not be more efficient to give the money to the Federation of Small Businesses, the Institute of Directors or one of the business representative organisations, which, I know, will look at these areas within a much wider remit?