Shropshire businesses urged to look beyond AI hype and focus on practical uses

Shropshire businesses are being urged to look beyond the hype surrounding artificial intelligence and focus on how the technology can solve everyday problems.

The message will be at the heart of the Shropshire Digital Summit, which takes place at Shrewsbury Town Football Club on Tuesday, September 29.

The event will bring together businesses from Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin and Herefordshire to explore how digital technology and AI can help firms attract and retain customers, improve efficiency and grow.

Organised by Shropshire Growth Hub, InSynch and Invest Telford, the summit will include talks and practical sessions covering areas including digital marketing, customer engagement, cyber security, data governance and responsible use of AI.

Businesses will also be shown how to improve their prompts and use AI for content creation without losing the personality and human element of their business.

For smaller companies in particular, organisers say AI does not necessarily mean major investment or replacing existing systems.

Instead, businesses can start by identifying repetitive administrative tasks, customer communications or internal processes where automation could save staff time.

The technology is already being used in different ways across Shropshire's business community.

Albrighton-based cyber security firm Solusec was recently named among the first 10 companies worldwide to receive a new CREST accreditation for AI-enabled penetration testing.

The accreditation was introduced in July to assess the responsible, secure and appropriate use of AI in penetration testing, with CREST describing the first 10 accredited companies as a benchmark for independently assured AI-enabled cyber security services.

Shropshire software company Shoothill has also recently strengthened its senior leadership team as it continues to expand its work across software development, managed IT, digital services and emerging technologies including AI.

The next stage of AI development is also expected to bring greater use of so-called agentic AI, where systems can take a more active role in completing tasks and coordinating workflows rather than simply answering questions or generating content.

That could eventually allow businesses to automate more complex processes, although it also raises questions around data security, accuracy and how much responsibility should be given to automated systems.

Organisers say those issues will be an important part of the discussion at the summit, alongside the potential benefits of the technology.

Employees will also need to understand how AI tools work, when they should be used and how to check their output before it is put into practice.

The Shropshire Digital Summit is open to businesses from Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin and Herefordshire.

It will take place from 9am to 4.30pm on Tuesday, September 29, at Shrewsbury Town Football Club.

The event is free to attend, with businesses able to book up to two places.