The first national benchmark of how prepared Scottish organisations are for major change has been launched by the University of Aberdeen.
The Scottish Transformation Readiness Index (TRI) will assess how equipped Scottish businesses are to tackle and embrace major changes such as AI adoption, net zero, restructuring and workforce transition. The findings will be used to help identify practical support for businesses in transition.
The TRI runs as a 10-minute anonymous survey across Scotland between 1 May and 10 July 2026, with a co-branded report published on 5 August. It is led by the University of Aberdeen's Business School in partnership with Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group, Decom Mission, Peer Works, and the Interdisciplinary Energy Institute, with the Data Lab distributing through their community channels.
Existing measures track adoption rates, spend or project milestones, none of which tell you whether an organisation can actually absorb change. The TRI does, and does it on a national scale with sector-level reporting.
Dr Iva Atanassova and Dr Ye Li from the University’s Business School co-led the research, with Dr Yaji Sripada (technical co-lead) from the School of Natural and Computing Sciences.
Dr Iva Atanassova said: “Research has shown that 70 to 80 per cent of organisational transformation initiatives underdeliver. In Scotland, where firms are running multiple transitions in parallel, energy transition, AI adoption, digitalisation, workforce change, the cost of getting that wrong compounds.
“Without a national benchmark, every organisation is guessing. The TRI gives sectors and policymakers an evidence base: where the gaps are, where the strengths sit, and where investment is most likely to translate into outcomes. It is built on more than ten years of peer-reviewed research, including work published in Industrial Marketing Management.
“Scotland has never had a national picture of that readiness. The TRI aims to change that, giving businesses, sector bodies and policymakers a shared, evidence-based benchmark for the first time.”
You can complete the survey here before 10 July 2026.