In this episode of the Fraser of Allander podcast, Professor Mairi Spowage, Director of the Fraser of Allander Institute, tackles “cyber” – what it really means, why it matters for Scotland’s economy, and how it intersects with AI adoption. She’s joined by Alex Brown (Deloitte, cyber resilience and transformation) and Karen Meechan (CEO of ScotlandIS and Chair of the Cyber Scotland Partnership) to demystify cyber roles beyond the stereotypes, explore how AI is changing security operations, and discuss the skills pipeline Scotland needs – including the push for “secure by design,” stronger governance, and a more diverse future workforce.
This is accompanied by analysis of the Cyber workforce in the UK and Scotland: which shows that these roles have been growing significantly over the last few years, are spread across many industries, are highly paid – and dominated by men. Many of these issues, especially the gender imbalance, are discussed in the pod.
(00:00) Cyber + AI: why this matters now (Cyber Scotland Week)
(01:12) Meet the guests: Deloitte + ScotlandIS / Cyber Scotland Partnership
(01:51) What “cyber resilience” really means (it’s not just IT)
(04:07) Scotland’s cyber ecosystem: what ScotlandIS + the Partnership do
(07:03) Cyber careers: the roles people don’t realise exist
(09:11) Scotland’s cyber skills gap (and why it’s still here)
(14:06) AI in cyber: big benefits, new risks, and trust issues
(19:02) AI adoption 101: start with the problem (not the hype)
(30:41) Building the talent pipeline: schools, placements & real pathways in
(41:05) The future: new roles, diversity, and what needs to change next
Read the transcript here.
Authors
Mairi is the Director of the Fraser of Allander Institute. Previously, she was the Deputy Chief Executive of the Scottish Fiscal Commission and the Head of National Accounts at the Scottish Government and has over a decade of experience working in different areas of statistics and analysis.
Alex Brown
Alex is a Manager in the Cyber Risk Practice for Deloitte, based in Edinburgh. Her experience ranges from Cyber Security Operations, DevSecOps Implementation and Strategy and Operating Model Design.
Karen Meechan
Karen Meechan is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ScotlandIS, the membership and cluster management organization for Scotland’s digital technologies industry.