Scottish Clue Community Event brings intelligence professionals together in Glasgow

On 23 September, intelligence and investigation professionals from across Scotland came together in Glasgow for our second Scottish Clue Community Event.

Representatives from organisations including NHS Scotland, Police Scotland, SEPA, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, Social Security Scotland, the Scottish Government, DWP and others joined us for a day of discussion, peer learning and practical exploration of the challenges shaping modern investigations and intelligence work.

Throughout the day, attendees shared experiences, explored common challenges and discussed how people, processes and technology can work together to support stronger investigations and better outcomes.

The trends shaping investigations today

Opening the event, Clue Chief Strategy Officer Thomas Drohan outlined several themes that are increasingly influencing investigation and intelligence teams.

These included growing data volumes, increasingly sophisticated threats, greater organisational and cross-agency convergence, evolving legislative requirements, rising expectations around accountability and performance, and the opportunities and challenges presented by AI.

While each organisation faces its own unique pressures, the discussion highlighted how many of these challenges are shared across sectors. Whether managing fraud, insider threat, regulatory investigations or safeguarding concerns, teams are being asked to do more with more information, under greater scrutiny, and often with limited resources.

Learning from one another

A central theme throughout the day was the value of community learning.

Customer-led sessions from SEPA and NHS Scotland sparked open discussions around implementation, adoption, investigation quality and lessons learned from real-world cases. Attendees were particularly interested in understanding how other organisations have embedded Clue into their processes and how they continue to develop capability over time.

As one discussion highlighted, effective use of technology is not achieved through a one-off training programme. Instead, organisations benefit from ongoing learning, sharing experiences and continuously refining their approaches as new challenges emerge.

The event also provided valuable opportunities for networking, with many attendees keen to connect with peers facing similar operational and organisational challenges. Several discussions focused on collaboration across agencies and the potential to share ideas, good practice and common approaches.

Exploring the role of AI

AI was one of the most discussed topics of the day.

Through product demonstrations, workshops and roundtable discussions, attendees explored how AI can help automate routine tasks, reduce manual effort and support more effective triage and prioritisation.

Importantly, conversations consistently returned to the need for a human-centred approach. While there was strong interest in AI’s potential to improve efficiency, attendees agreed that transparency, accountability and robust auditability remain essential. The consensus was clear: AI should support professional judgement, not replace it.

Governance, quality and measuring impact

Alongside AI, several broader themes emerged across customer discussions.

Attendees highlighted the importance of strong governance, effective change management and maintaining consistency in investigative processes. Success, they noted, depends as much on people and operating models as it does on technology.

There was also considerable interest in how organisations measure success. While financial outcomes remain important for many teams, attendees recognised the need to demonstrate wider organisational value, including risk reduction, operational effectiveness, investigative quality and prevention outcomes.

Data quality was another recurring topic, particularly as organisations manage growing information volumes and increasingly complex intelligence environments. Retention, cleansing and ensuring confidence in decision-making data continue to be priorities for many teams.

A growing Scottish community

The event reinforced the strength and diversity of the Scottish Clue community, bringing together organisations from law enforcement, healthcare, government, regulation and the wider public sector.

Most importantly, it demonstrated the value of organisations learning from each other, sharing challenges openly and collectively exploring better ways of working.

Thank you to everyone who attended, contributed to discussions and shared their experiences throughout the day. We’re looking forward to continuing the conversation through Clue Connect and future community events.

Want to be part of the conversation?

Our community brings together investigation, intelligence and risk professionals to share best practice, explore emerging challenges and learn from one another. Contact us to learn more about Clue and upcoming community events.