Renfrewshire Council has signed a three-year contract to expand its use of artificial intelligence.
The local authority will work with ICS.AI to deliver the more than £5 million programme, which aims to transform services, support staff and ease financial and operational pressures.
The council already uses AI in its award-winning phone assistant, Millie, launched in November 2024.
Patrick Murray, head of digital, transformation, and customer services at Renfrewshire Council, said: "We can no longer rely on traditional savings measures alone and need to find new ways of working to maintain high-quality services and meet future pressures.
"ICS.AI has already demonstrated what AI can deliver for Renfrewshire through Millie and has experience delivering similar transformation programmes across UK local government.
"We're now building on that foundation to look at how AI can support our staff, improve services and help us work more efficiently."
The contract follows what is believed to be the most extensive AI transformation assessment by a Scottish local authority, selecting ICS.AI after a competitive process that began with more than 100 potential suppliers and was narrowed to 14 in later stages.
More than 100 staff contributed to the process, taking part in 32 workshops across 25 service areas. Together, they identified 194 potential AI use cases.
The first phase focuses on expanding Millie by upgrading the phone service with generative AI and creating a new web-based "Citizen Copilot" to improve residents' access to council information and services. A "Staff Copilot" is also planned to provide eligible employees with secure AI tools for daily tasks, meetings and case notes.
Other AI agents will support service inboxes, Freedom of Information and Subject Access Requests, and complaints handling. Staff will retain oversight, with AI intended to support — not replace — human decision-making.
The programme will be delivered in three phases. Phase one, running from November 2026 to March 2028, will focus on lower-risk, proven AI applications. Phase two will introduce more targeted, service-specific tools. Phase three will drive broader transformation across all council services.
A council spokesperson said the rollout will follow a formal governance framework including staff training, human oversight, data protection, trade union engagement, and regular transparency reporting.
Millie has already handled hundreds of thousands of calls since launch and has won awards including the Leading Innovation Award at the COSLA Excellence Awards 2025 and the Digital Public Services Award at the Scottish Public Service Awards 2025.