More than 3,400 jobs and billions of pounds of private investment are set to flow to Lanarkshire after the UK government named the region Scotland’s first AI growth zone, a flagship initiative under its Modern Industrial Strategy.
Announced on January 29, the Lanarkshire AI Growth Zone is being delivered by Scottish data center operator DataVita at its Airdrie site in collaboration with AI cloud specialist CoreWeave. The project is expected to create more than 3,400 jobs in the coming years, including around 800 high-value roles focused on artificial intelligence, data and digital infrastructure.
These roles range from AI researchers and software engineers to permanent operations staff who operate and maintain advanced data centers. The remaining jobs will be created during the construction phase as work begins on new data centers, supporting infrastructure, a renewable energy park and related facilities.
As well as creating jobs, the project has secured £8.2 billion of private investment, making it one of the largest AI-related infrastructure projects announced in the UK to date. The commissioning of the data center capacity will generate a further £540 million of community funds over the next 15 years, providing targeted support to address cost of living pressures in the region.
The fund will support a wide range of initiatives including skills and training programs, apprenticeships, after-school coding clubs and support for local charities and food banks. DataVita’s parent company, HFD Group, will also donate an additional £1 million per year to local community organizations.
The Growth Zone will offer at least 50 apprenticeships, helping to build a pipeline of Scottish AI talent while strengthening collaboration between industry, universities and training providers. Ministers said the program will ensure local people have access to the skills they need for emerging AI-driven careers.
The announcement represents further progress in the government’s action plan for AI opportunities, with ministers saying more than 75 percent of commitments have already been met. In total, 38 of the plan’s 50 actions were implemented within a year, supported by a new public dashboard that tracks progress.
Over the past 12 months, the government has increased national AI computing capacity tenfold and launched a major skills drive, offering more than one million free AI training courses. AI is already being used across public services: around a third of the NHS’s chest X-rays are now AI-enabled, fraud detection times have been reduced by 80 percent and new AI planning tools are set to be rolled out across all local authorities by spring 2026.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the Lanarkshire project showed how AI investments could directly benefit working people.
“Getting ahead in life shouldn’t mean having to travel miles from home for work while struggling to pay the bills at home,” he said. “By bringing billions of pounds of investment to Lanarkshire, we are creating good, well-paid jobs and financial support that will directly help families with living costs.”
Technology Minister Liz Kendall said the growth zone would ensure the benefits of AI are felt locally. “From thousands of new jobs and billions in investment to direct community support, this is how AI can deliver real change for people across Scotland,” she said.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves added that AI Growth Zones were central to supporting regional growth and unlocking private investment, while Scotland Office Minister Kirsty McNeill said the project would write “the next chapter” in North Lanarkshire’s industrial history.
DataVita managing director Danny Quinn said Scotland now has “everything AI needs: talent, green energy and infrastructure”, while CoreWeave international managing director Ben Richardson described the location as a shift from “AI ambitions towards AI in manufacturing”.
Once completed, the Lanarkshire AI Growth Zone will be among the most advanced AI sites in the world, with plans for on-site power generation of more than 500MW over the next four years. Energy will be sourced from on-site renewables and excess heat from cooling systems is expected to be reused, with proposals to power nearby Monklands University Hospital, Scotland’s first fully digital, net zero hospital.
Lanarkshire joins four other AI growth zones announced last year – in Oxfordshire, North Wales, South Wales and the North East of England. Together, these zones are expected to create up to 15,000 jobs and attract at least £28.2 billion of private investment, cementing the UK’s position as Europe’s leading AI economy.
