Two AI Growth Zones are planned in North Wales and along the M4 corridor in South Wales.
Policy campaign for Wales
If Wales is to be an AI nation, SMEs must be at its heart.
Wales is about to become one of the UK’s main testbeds for AI-driven growth. Two AI Growth Zones are expected to attract major investment and new infrastructure. The real economic test is not what they host, but whether they help Welsh SMEs adopt AI, raise productivity, build specialist capability, and widen access to high-value work.
Framework
The case in one view
This campaign sets out a practical framework for making AI Growth Zones work for Wales. It is built around three tests, one missing fiscal lever, and a simple principle: the long-term value of AI infrastructure depends on whether the gains spread into the wider Welsh economy.
Three practical tests
The framework asks whether data-centre incentives benefit Welsh SMEs, whether adoption funding backs real SME transformation work, and whether grid planning leaves room for smaller firms to electrify and adopt AI.
A missing fiscal lever
If AI is strategically important, AI Growth Zones should be designed to be meaningfully tax-effective for both firms and scarce talent, with relief tied to Welsh jobs, local procurement, skills transfer, and measurable productivity gains.
Delivery, not slogans
The framework focuses on practical action: early SME projects, simple access routes, outcome-based support, and clear measures of whether Growth Zones are delivering broad-based value.
Downloads
Download the papers
The campaign is backed by two documents: a full paper setting out the wider argument and a shorter three-page briefing designed for ministers, advisers, journalists, trade bodies, and fast circulation.
Full paper
If Wales is to be an AI Nation, SMEs must be at its Heart
A fuller framework covering the productivity case, the three tests, the fiscal lever, and practical actions for government and Welsh SMEs.
Three-page briefing
A briefing for Welsh and UK decision-makers
A shorter version of the argument built for meetings, policy discussion, outreach, and quick reading.
Articles
Read the argument in parts
This article series turns the framework into standalone pieces on infrastructure, SME productivity, fiscal levers, public-service innovation, grid capacity, and practical delivery. This makes the argument easier to discover, share, and act on.
Why data centres are not enough for Wales
Why infrastructure alone will fall short unless value spreads into the wider Welsh economy.
Read articleThe three tests for AI Growth Zones
A short explanation of the three practical tests at the centre of the framework.
Read articleWhy AI must work for Welsh SMEs
Why adoption across small firms matters more than infrastructure headlines alone.
Read articlePledge
Sign the pledge
This campaign is building public support for an AI Growth Zone model focused on productivity, public-service innovation, SME adoption, fiscal incentives, and measurable local benefit. Give your support today and help make sure Wales gets the right kind of AI Growth Zones for its economy, its people, and its future.