Business leaders look to AI for regional growth with ONE

From the farm to the shelf, food and drink founders now use AI to understand customers and run leaner businesses. The people who mentor them and sit on the ONE Sector Boards are learning too.

Mentors, board members and partners spent a morning at ONE Tech Hub with Paul Cheek, senior lecturer at MIT Sloan School of Management and serial entrepreneur, for the third AI for Regional Growth session. They explored synthetic market research and how AI sharpens the Disciplined Entrepreneurship framework.

That fluency helps experienced industry leaders stretch founders in the sector that feeds this region and steer them towards the opportunities AI opens up.

Don't forget that every mentor and board member gives their time for free, choosing to invest in their own education so they can keep giving back to the ecosystem.

ONE Food, Drink and Agriculture Board member Stuart Common, Managing Director of Mackie's of Scotland had this to say:

“I found the AI session both thought-provoking and highly practical. For food manufacturers, AI has real potential to improve planning, forecasting, efficiency and decision-making, helping businesses remain competitive and support regional growth.

“Seeing Paul in action was particularly valuable. He has a great ability to make a complex subject accessible and to demonstrate practical applications that leaders can take back into their own organisations.”