Cydweithfa AI Cymru · Welsh AI Collective
Welsh small businesses, working together on AI.
We are a collective of small businesses in Wales. Together we work for fair access to public support for AI, and for the education, help and grants that let small companies put it to work, in Welsh and in English.
Who we are
A shared voice for small businesses in Wales
Most businesses in Wales are small. On their own, few have the time to follow public funding or to make the case for the help they need. Together, we can.
Fair access
We work together to ensure that small businesses in every part of Wales have fair access to government resources for AI adoption.
Education
We champion the roll-out of education that helps small business owners understand AI and use it.
Support and grants
We champion support and grants that help Welsh small businesses use AI in their everyday work.
Open to every small business
The Collective is open to small businesses in every part of Wales, including sole traders and the self-employed. We work in Welsh and in English.
What we ask
Five practical asks
We are asking the Welsh Government, Business Wales, councils and the UK Government for five things.
Wales has an AI plan, an Office for AI and two AI Growth Zones. The AI plan does not yet have a budget of its own, and the new government’s first full draft budget, for 2027-28, is due on 17 November 2026.
Ask 1. A dedicated budget for small business AI adoption, set for several years
Help should last long enough to show results. For scale, matching Northern Ireland’s spending per person would cost about £4.5m a year.
Ask 2. A route designed for microbusinesses and sole traders
It would run from awareness events to one-to-one advice, hands-on help and small matched grants or vouchers.
Ask 3. Support led from Wales, in Welsh and English
We want it delivered by advisers, colleges, universities and companies based in Wales. Local partners reached the most companies in past Welsh programmes.
Ask 4. Council grants that cover AI software, subscriptions and training
Business grants in at least seven council areas exclude or restrict these costs. Changing the rules would need no new money.
Ask 5. A clear route for AI Growth Zone money to reach local small businesses
Up to £5m has been announced for each Welsh zone for business adoption and skills, although its stated purposes also include research and start-ups. No scheme had been published by late October 2026.
Why it matters
What the right help could mean
about£1.1bn
of extra output for Wales over 2026 to 2035, if Welsh AI adoption catches up with the UK rate by 2030.
about£326ma year
of extra output by 2035 on the same path, with gains continuing after that.
99.3%
of businesses in Wales are small or medium-sized. They employ more than six in ten of the people who work in Welsh businesses.
about37%
of the whole gain from AI would go to small and medium-sized companies, in the central case for 2035.
Central estimate in 2024 prices, from the economic model in our initial report. It is indicative, not a forecast, and it does not show that any particular programme would close the gap.
For your business
Help with everyday tasks
AI can take on part of the work in many jobs. The Office for Budget Responsibility expects most jobs that are exposed to AI to be helped by it rather than replaced.
Competing on equal terms
In 2024, Welsh companies that innovate used AI far less than those in England, 26.3% against 41.8%. Practical help could let Welsh businesses keep pace.
Grants for the tools you use
Most AI tools are sold as subscriptions. We want grants and vouchers that can pay for them, and for the training to use them well.
In Welsh and in English
We want help in both languages, with AI tools tested in Welsh before they are recommended, as the Welsh Language Commissioner advises.
Since April 2022, about 2p in every £1 of public money awarded for AI work in Wales has gone to helping businesses adopt it.
Every part of Wales
Help that reaches every part of Wales
Welsh programmes have reached small companies in large numbers before. Opportunity Wales reached nearly 12,000 small companies through local partners, and Superfast Business Wales supported 6,537 companies, 91% of them microbusinesses.
Rural and Welsh-speaking communities
In Ceredigion and on Anglesey, microbusinesses provide more than half of all employment. Only 47.6% of rural business premises have full fibre broadband, so help should be available locally, in Welsh and in English.
North Wales
M-SParc, the science park on Anglesey, delivers the Business Wales AI events across Wales. North Wales also has one of the two Welsh AI Growth Zones. We want its local money to reach small businesses across the region, including the north-east.
West Wales
Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire are among the areas with the lowest full fibre coverage in Wales. Microbusinesses provide 52.6% of employment in Ceredigion. Help designed for the smallest companies matters most here.
South Wales
A Cardiff University hub has shown that Welsh universities can give small companies hands-on technical help with AI. We want help like that to reach the Valleys and the towns as well as the cities.
Microbusinesses are 94.6% of businesses in Wales. Support should be designed for them from the start.
Our report
Ready for AI, our initial report
Our asks draw on Ready for AI, an initial report on public support for AI adoption by small businesses in Wales. It brings together the published evidence and gives the source of every figure.
It was written by Felix Clarke FRSA MBA, a member of the Collective. It is the first of the reports we plan to publish.
Coming up
What we are doing next
We are at the start of our work. This is what comes next.
Monitoring
We keep track of the budgets, programmes and grants for AI adoption in Wales, and how much of that support reaches small companies.
Regular reports
We will publish regular reports as new figures appear, so that business owners and decision-makers can see what is changing.
Specific recommendations
We will turn our five asks into specific recommendations for the Welsh Government, Business Wales, councils and the UK Government.
Events
We will hold events to tell people about our work and to hear from small businesses about the help they need with AI.
A podcast
We will launch a podcast about our work, and about AI and small businesses in Wales.
Get in touch
Join us, or get in touch
If you run a small business in Wales, including as a sole trader, join us. Together we have a stronger voice when we ask for the support, education and grants that help small businesses use AI.
To ask a question, to take part in an event or the podcast, or to arrange a call, get in touch.