A fully funded programme for Scottish architecture, engineering and construction businesses. Built for the people who already live with the data: directors, project and commercial leads, and whoever ends up owning the spreadsheets and the models.
There is no fixed syllabus. We start from your jobs, your systems and your data, so what you build is shaped around your business rather than a course.
Six questions, about a minute. We pick up the detail when we speak.
The things people ask us most. If yours is not here, email the team and a person will reply.
None. Data Hard Hats is fully funded by the Ecosystem Fund (Scottish Government), so your place, the workshops, the one-to-one sessions and your AEC Data Readiness Report are all covered. No fee, no hidden charges, and no subscription at the end.
You qualify if your business is registered or operating in Scotland, works in architecture, engineering, construction or a related built-environment discipline, has 1–50 employees, and turnover between £50,000 and £5 million.
If you sit close to one of those limits, apply anyway and say so. We would rather look at your case than have you rule yourself out.
Six touchpoints across roughly six to eight weeks: three half-day workshops with your cohort, two one-to-one sessions of 45 to 60 minutes online with just your team and us, and a light follow-up afterwards.
The workshops are hybrid, so you can join in the room or online. The info session deck walks through what each one covers.
No. Most participants run a practice or a site, not a data team. We start from the records you already keep: project files, emails, spreadsheets, BIM models, and use tools you can operate without writing code.
Every workshop runs hybrid, so you can join in the room or online, and both one-to-one sessions are online. Choose the city cohort that suits you, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Inverness or Aberdeen, or pick “No preference” on the form and we will place you.
The form is deliberately short. We'll get in touch to pick up the detail we need to check your eligibility, and to understand what you want out of it.
Otherwise there is nothing to chase: cohort places are confirmed from 21 September 2026, ahead of the first sessions in late September, and we'll let you know either way.
Each place is for one named person, because the workshops are hands-on and cohorts are capped at 10–15 businesses. If a second colleague would change what you get out of it, mention it when we speak and we will see what is possible.
Applications close on Friday 18 September 2026 and places are limited, so it is worth applying before then.
If you find us later, email the team anyway: we keep expressions of interest on file for future cohorts, and the AEC Data Intelligence Toolkit is published openly for everyone.
If your question is not answered above, or you want to check whether your business fits before you fill anything in, email the team.
Email systems@adventurous.systems →Three half-day workshops with your cohort, two one-to-one sessions with just your team and us, and a follow-up. The workshops are hybrid, so you can join in the room or online, and both one-to-one sessions are online. We start from your data, not a syllabus.
Map what your business already holds: project records, quotes, invoices, site photos, emails, design files. Find where value is hidden, duplicated or lost, and pick one painful, repetitive job worth fixing first.
We take the problem you picked and right-size it into something genuinely doable on your real systems. No two businesses are pushed onto the same problem.
Everyone builds. Practical AI prompting for AEC work, clean data capture, pulling structured data out of PDFs and invoices, and one no-code automation wired end to end, all against your own task.
Debug it, harden it against the awkward edge cases, and fold it into how the business actually works, so it survives a busy week and a staff change rather than being a workshop-day demo.
Connect your tools so data flows once and updates everywhere. Light-touch governance and the GDPR basics that matter to a small firm. Then a 90-day roadmap, and a showcase where the cohort presents what they built.
A short check-in against your roadmap a few weeks later: momentum, blockers, a nudge. This is where we find out whether it stuck, which is the only measure that matters.
Each city runs the same six touchpoints, hybrid, so you can join in the room or online. Pick the city that suits you, or say you have no preference and we will place you. Places are confirmed from 21 September 2026.
We come back to everyone who registered, either way.
The first cohort. Sessions run from late September through November.
Runs alongside Glasgow, on its own schedule.
Full hybrid access, so Highlands and Islands businesses take part on equal terms.
The last cohort of 2026, and the one that gets the most tested version of the programme.
Places are limited to 10–15 firms per cohort. You don't need a technology background. The commitment is three half-day workshops and two one-to-one sessions, spread across six to eight weeks.
Fully funded by the Scottish Government's Ecosystem Fund. No fee, no hidden charges, and no subscription at the end.
Your business must be registered or operating in Scotland, in architecture, engineering, construction, or a related built environment discipline.
The programme is designed for SMEs and startups. Turnover between £50,000 and £5 million. Smaller firms often have the most to gain.
Businesses where data and AI adoption would generate meaningful impact, whether you're just starting out or actively scaling.
We work with your existing data: project records, emails, spreadsheets, BIM files. The programme starts from where you are.
Three half-day workshops about four weeks apart, two one-to-one sessions online, and a follow-up. Hybrid throughout, scheduled around your calendar.
The construction industry is one of Scotland's least diverse sectors. We actively recruit women-led firms, minority ethnic-owned contractors, disabled practitioners, and rural businesses, particularly those in the Highlands, Islands, and Scottish Borders where digital support rarely reaches.
All sessions are hybrid. Timing is flexible. Materials are fully accessible.
Places are limited to 10–15 businesses per cohort. Six questions, about a minute. We'll pick up the detail when we speak. Applications close Friday 18 September 2026.
Applications close: Friday 18 September 2026 · Cohort places confirmed from: 21 September 2026
Data Hard Hats is delivered by Adventurous Systems Ltd, an AEC technology company working on the industry's data coordination problem: design, construction and operations data that never quite joins up. We build AI- and Web3-enabled digital twins, backed by peer-reviewed research and open-source development, and we run this programme from the same practice.
More about Adventurous Systems →
Data Hard Hats is fully funded by the Ecosystem Fund, a Scottish Government programme, which is why there is no cost to participating businesses. Delivered with Pulse, with further delivery partners to be announced.
