Don't start with the tool. Start with the hour.

Scotland is handing money to small businesses to adopt AI.

Most of them will spend it on the wrong thing.

Not because they're careless. Because when someone gives you money for AI, you go looking for AI. A tool. A licence. A demo with a nice logo.

Three out of four Scottish SMEs weren't using any of this a year ago. They weren't wrong to wait. Most of what they were being offered was a solution looking for a problem.

Here's what I'd do with a grant.

Don't start with the tool. Start with the hour.

The hour every week that someone in your business hates. The one nobody would notice if it disappeared. Chasing invoices. Copying orders from one screen to another. Answering the same six questions.

Find that hour. Then, and only then, ask if a machine can eat it.

The AI Scotland programme is in its second year and the support is open now. If you run a small business here and want to know what your hour is before you apply, my inbox is open. No pitch. I just like this puzzle.