How the public sector is using AI now

The development of artificial intelligence is one of the key issues facing public services around the world. The UK government has set out the key principles to make the most of the potential of AI, and public sector organisations are developing use cases to integrate AI tools in their policy making processes.

This session will share use cases from across the UK government and beyond on how they are using AI tools now. Speakers will provide step-by-step insight on how they have achieved implementation, from how to develop a business case for AI projects to how they reviewed their work to make the most of AI tools.

Speakers:

Stephen Hext, Data and AI Senior Specialist, Newcastle City Council, United Kingdom

Saheel Sankriwala, Chief Data and Technology Officer, Department for Education, United Kingdom

Ott Velsberg, Chief Government Data Officer, Estonia

Will Gayne, Product Strategy and Impact Director, Oak National Academy, United Kingdom

Tom Winstanley, CTO & Head of New Ventures, NTT Data

Moderator:

Kiran Chahal, Applied Innovation Lead, Cabinet Office

Supported by:

Rethinking procurement in the age of AI

Technology such as AI is transforming the way governments operate and deliver services. This fast-moving landscape means procurement processes must become more agile too to ensure value for money and access to the latest capabilities as they emerge.

Governments can also use procurement to set standards and requirements to ensure effective, safe and fair tools.

This session will look at how new tools such as AI are changing government procurement – and how government commercial teams can help departments buy the best tools.

Speakers:

Albert King, Chief Data Officer, NHS Scotland, United Kingdom

Tim Ketton-Locke, Deputy Director, DX4D Digital Exploitation, Ministry of Defence, United Kingdom

Dr Philip Orumwense CBE, Commercial Director, Chief Procurement Officer for Technology, Crown Commercial Service, United Kingdom

Moderator:

Liz Whitefield, Former UK Civil Servant

Opening up about data and AI to build trust

Building trust in how government use of data and AI requires transparency about where tools are used, how they work, and how they affect decisions and services.

This session will explore approaches to algorithm and data transparency in the public sector.

It will cover how to provide clear communications on the public benefits from how government uses data and AI, and how to boost trust among public servants to share data in a way that can drive better services, as well as how challenges to opening up can be overcome.

Speakers:

Dr Amanda Svensson, Deputy Director, Applied Data & Insight, UK Government Communication Service, Cabinet Office, United Kingdom

Sue Bateman, Chief Data Officer, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, United Kingdom

Dr. Iliya Peter Nickelt, Chief Data Scientist, German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Germany

Martin Waudby, Chief Data Officer, London Borough of Camden, United Kingdom

Moderator:

Liz Whitefield, Former UK Civil Servant

Ensuring digital investments deliver value for money

Digital and AI projects represent significant investments, and UK ministers have identified the need to improve digital infrastructure as key to realising the vison of its blueprint for modern digital government.

However, government at all levels is often dependent on decades-old and costly legacy systems – and a review has called for a significant shift in how digital initiatives are funded, managed, and tracked.

This session will discuss how government can create more modern, responsive infrastructure that can support public service transformation, and how to rewire policymaking to make the most of digital investment. It will also discuss the path forward for reform, as well as how to build common digital components and approaches across the public sector to improve collaboration.

Speakers:

Dr Malkiat Thiarai, Head of Corporate Information Management and Data Protection Officer, Birmingham City Council, United Kingdom

Shehroze Junejo, Chief Data Officer, UK Government Investments, United Kingdom

Dr Ravinder Singh, Head of Digital and Systems Team, Government Commercial Function (GCF), Cabinet Office, United Kingdom

Moderator:

Richard Johnstone, Executive Editor, Global Government Forum

Lunch Break

Mainstreaming data and digital skills 

As governments increasingly rely on AI, digital and data-driven tools, digital expertise can no longer be confined to technology professionals – it must become a fundamental skillset for all public servants.

This session will explore practical strategies to equip public servants with essential digital skills and foster a culture where digital and data literacy are embraced as collective responsibilities.

Speakers:

Thomas Beautyman, Deputy Director, Government Digital Capability, Department for Science and Innovation, United Kingdom

Dr Carla Groom, Head of Human-Centred Design Science, Department for Work and Pensions, United Kingdom

Alan Blanchard, Business Development Director, TSO

Moderator:

Liz Whitefield, Former UK Civil Servant

Supported by:

How cloud technology and application hosting can transform services

Government departments are using technology such as cloud hosting to run services and drive better data storage and analysis.

However, many governments around the world are reviewing their use of cloud technology to ensure its development and deployment is focused on what works.

This approach is intended to make it easier for departments and agencies to access the information they need – as well as ensuring value for money and technological sustainability.

This session will bring together public servants around the world to share insights on emerging best practice cloud approaches in government, and how they can be deployed.

Speakers:

David Knott, Chief Technology Officer for the UK Government, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, United Kingdom

Matt Philpott, Executive Director of Technology, Transformation Directorate, NHS England, United Kingdom

Paul Booth, Head of Hybrid Cloud Services, DWP Digital, United Kingdom

Su Morgan, Head of Digital & Technology, Office of the Public Guardian, Ministry of Justice, United Kingdom

Moderator:

Richard Johnstone, Executive Editor, Global Government Forum

Joining up data to unlock better services

The government’s ‘A Blueprint for Modern Digital Government’ has set out an ambition to join up public sector services by redesigning cross-organisation end-to-end service delivery through acting as one public sector.

The blueprint sets out that there is a need to rewire the government’s data infrastructure, as current systems prevent the delivery of more joined-up, personalised services, and making it harder to realise efficiencies through improved productivity and reduced fraud and waste.

This session will share insights on how to better join up data to reform to create more people-centred and responsive public services that – ultimately – let people lead easier lives.

Speakers:

Simon McLellan, Head of Data, Met Office, United Kingdom and Co-ordinator for Unified Data Policy Implementation, World Meteorological Organisation

Ambereen Jamal-Rahim, Director of Data Policy, Outreach & Engagement, Office of the Chief Information Officer, Treasury Board Secretariat, Government of Canada

Siân Thomas, Chief Data Officer, Department of Business and Trade, United Kingdom

Dr. Shruti Kohli, Deputy Director Data Strategy, Government Digital Service, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, United Kingdom

Timothy Hill, Principal Data Architect, TPXimpact

Moderator:

Kiran Chahal, Applied Innovation Lead, Cabinet Office

Supported by:

Building leadership for digital and data transformation

Global Government Forum research has identified the importance of leadership is driving effective transformation across government. The Digital Leaders Report found that departmental leaders and ministers often lack the understanding and commitment to drive digital transformation, and the UK government’s blueprint has also pledged to elevate digital leadership to the centre of public sector decision-making.

This session will look at the key skills that government leaders need, and how they can be boosted through training, and by placing digital leaders in positions to shape an organisation’s strategic agenda.

Speakers:

Gemma Elsworth, Head of Data Capability, Department for Work and Pensions Digital, United Kingdom

Owen Pritchard, Head of Cyber, Digital and Technology, Local Government Association, United Kingdom

Lucy Vickers, Chief Data Officer and Chief Statistician, Department of Health & Social Care, United Kingdom

Moderator:

Liz Whitefield, Former UK Civil Servant

Fireside chat: Building diverse teams to eliminate bias in AI

Without adequate checks, AI systems can embed and scale bias, leading to distorted and potentially harmful outputs in areas such as criminal justice, healthcare, hiring, welfare payments, and debt recovery.

One important way to ensure artificial intelligence systems used by the civil service and local government are fair is to create diverse teams, who will be more likely to spot risks and eliminate bias in training data, in AI development and monitoring, and when procuring AI from the private sector. But studies find that women account for only 21% of AI professionals in the UK, for example.

In this Global Government Women’s Network session, experts will discuss what can be done to attract more women, ethnic minorities and others to data and AI roles in government, and what steps should be taken to most effectively identify and stamp out bias in AI used in government processes and public services.

Speakers:

Sue Bateman, Chief Data Officer, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, United Kingdom

Lucy Makinson, Head of Evaluation and Impact, Incubator for Artificial Intelligence, United Kingdom

Moderator:

Mia Hunt, Editor, Global Government Women’s Network

PULSE: Helping civil servants accelerate policy delivery

It is vital that government policymaking is informed by the best possible data – and a new competition being launched by Global Government Forum and Mastercard is set to provide public servants with unprecedented access to economic data to spark innovation on economic growth, urban resilience, financial inclusion, and improved public services.

Rich detailed data insights on consumer spending can reveal the real demand in the economy and the way consumers are behaving, which can provide officials with in-depth knowledge to drive delivery of policy priorities.

This competition will provide UK public servants with an opportunity to inform their policymaking with anonymised spending data.

The PULSE (Policymaking Using Local Spending Evidence) competition is looking for ideas from civil servants and the wider public sector on how they would use anonymised Mastercard data to better inform policy development and delivery.

Public servants are invited to submit ideas on public policy challenges that could be addressed by better access to payments data – and the outcomes you hope to achieve.

Ideas are invited across the following themes:
· Inclusive Growth – Identify underserved communities and drive equitable development.
· Urban Resilience – Analyse how spending changes during crises or major events.
· Tourism & Culture – Balance economic benefits and community impact of tourism.
· Sustainability – Track behaviour shifts and align with green policy goals.
· Small Business Support – Map vulnerability and direct support effectively

After applications have been received, the ideas will be analysed by government leaders, and the most innovative and effective proposals will be invited to pitch their proposals to leading public service innovators.

The chosen winner will then receive 12 months’ access to Mastercard data tools with ongoing support, enabling them to continue to work on the public sector project.

Speaker:

Thomas Green, Managing Consultant, Mastercard Data & Services

Supported by:

From Coordinates to Conversations: Using AI to gain geospatial insights

Extracting value from geospatial data is still too hard for those without GIS or coding skills. This talk explores how large language models and agentic systems are removing the friction between data and decisions, enabling non-experts to ask better questions, uncover patterns, and act on spatial insight.

Speaker:

Dan Collins, Head of AI, Ordnance Survey

Supported by:

From Hype to Impact: A Pragmatic Path to Transformational AI in Public Services

The AI landscape can feel overwhelming. This session cuts through the noise with a practical look at how to adopt AI across your organisation. From boosting citizen experience (think 40% better digital contact efficiency) to transforming the back office, we’ll focus on what’s possible now. Moving beyond theory, we’ll dive into tangible examples of how AI and digital automation can be applied. Imagine giving your public sector organisation 10 tireless digital colleagues, each capable of executing complex tasks at speed and scale. Where would you deploy them for maximum impact? And how could they drive transformation by enhancing citizen services, streamlining operations, and improving policy and decision-making?

Speakers:

Emily Hill, Agentforce & Agentic AI Lead, Public Sector EMEA, Salesforce

Jim Douglas, Principal Solutions Engineer, Salesforce

Session supported by:

Beyond Job Titles: How AI Maps the True Skills Landscape  

Organisations are embracing skills-based strategies. Horsefly will look at use of AI showcasing their Platform, demonstrating how a hybrid approach enriches recruitment, forecasting, and planning. Discover the enhanced decision-making power this approach provides and understand the nuanced shifts in labour market analytics that are shaping the future of talent management.

Speaker:

Supported by:

Session to be announced shortly

From Chaos to Clarity: How AI Is replacing SIC codes to power the Industrial Strategy

The UK’s industrial strategy is based on a sector led approach but the SIC codes that underpin how we measure the economy but they were last updated in 2007. From funding to policy to investment, the UK is still relying on a broken system. In this talk, Alex Craven, Co-Founder of The Data City, shows how AI is already being used by government bodies to define and support the real economy. Real-Time Industry Classifications (RTICs) reveal emerging sectors like green hydrogen, engineering biology and semiconductors where SIC codes see nothing. This is the shift from static data to intelligent insight.

Speaker:

Alex Craven, CEO & Co-Founder, The Data City​

Supported by:

Innovation to Impact: A unique view of UK innovation diffusion and adoption

Explore key findings from the largest UK study on innovation diffusion and adoption. Learn how 4,595 firms are adopting technologies like AI, Quantum, and Engineering Biology, the barriers they face, and how government can help with real world examples of how to accelerate adoption and unlock economic growth.

Speaker:

Tom Sweetman, Global Innovation Director, PA Consulting

Supported by:

Cutting Through the AI Noise: Equipping Your Workforce with Mission-Critical GenAI Skills

With AI capabilities evolving at speed, how can public sector organisations ensure their workforce is equipped with the right generative AI skills to deliver on mission-critical objectives? In this session, we’ll explore how to develop high-impact skills using trusted, job-relevant content. We’ll cover where to start, who to train and on what.  You’ll also learn how to create a safe, structured environment for your teams to apply and test their new AI skills with confidence.

Supported by:

From Fear to Framework: How Good Governance Drives Great Policy

Case study session with the Arts Council

Developing AI policy isn’t just about technology. It’s about trust. Arts Council England’s approach put governance at the heart of the process, ensuring staff voices shaped the policy while maintaining momentum in delivery. Join us to explore how thoughtful structures, open conversations, and clear accountability enabled us to craft the organisation’s responsible AI policy at pace.

Speaker:

Owen Hopkin, Director, New Technologies & Innovation, Arts Council England

From Scepticism to Adoption: One Organisation’s Journey with AI

AI is no longer a future aspiration; it’s part of everyday working life at Unilink. Across our 180-strong team, colleagues now use AI to develop products, draft content, analyse CVs, summarise data, and more. But this wasn’t always the case. Just a short time ago, many in the organisation were sceptical. This session shares the story of how Unilink moved from hesitation to advocacy, embedding AI in daily workflows to boost productivity, create new functions, and unlock potential applications in the justice sector.

Speaker:

Francis Toye, CEO and Founder, Unilink

Supported by:

Shaping the Future of Public Service: Insights and Experience with AI and its Governance

Case study session with the Department for Business and Trade

The civil service is transforming through AI, but human oversight ensures fairness, trust and accountability.

This session explores the role of AI assistants in improving efficiency and responsiveness, with a focus on their best performance under the guidance and governance of civil servants. We will share insights from the One Big Thing initiative and our latest cross-DBT case study, showcasing practical lessons, good practices, and the pivotal role civil servants play in catalysing responsible AI adoption across the government.

Speakers:

Farabi Shayor, Science and Technology Sector Lead, Department for Business and Trade

Laurence Carrick, Senior Briefings and Commissions Manager, Department for Business and Trade

Agentic AI on AWS

AI agents and gen AI are revolutionizing industries by enhancing decision-making, boosting operational efficiency, and addressing diverse business challenges. In this lightning talk, we will explore the potential of agentic gen AI and its practical, value-driven implementation. Learn how to use the power of AWS to deploy agentic workflows.

Speaker:

Manos Samatas, Principal Solutions Architect, Data & AI, UK Public Sector EMEA, Amazon Web Services

Supported by:

Federated Data at Scale: Laying the Foundations of AI

Driving secure-by-design data reuse, automation, and efficiency at enterprise scale

From Feedback to Foresight: Predicting Needs with AI

Scaling Qualitative Research with AI – Reaching the Unreachable

• Scale qualitative insight beyond traditional research constraints
• Reach voices typically excluded from user research processes
• Balance AI innovation with human-centred research ethics
• Design inclusive research methods that meet people where they are
• Transform organisational listening from select few to entire populations

Speakers:

Emma Halahan, Product Manager, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust

Cassie Cardiff, Senior User Researcher, Torchbox

Dan Braghis, Tech Lead, Torchbox

Personalised, human-led services (using AI) for the most vulnerable

Join our discussion on how AI can support the most vulnerable people in society to achieve better service outcomes. Instead of replacing human interaction, AI can enhance it by streamlining complex processes like housing applications or navigating welfare systems, ensuring people receive the personalised, face-to-face support they need.

Speakers:

Thomas Kohut, Senior Partner, TPXimpact

Supported by:

Introducing Aila: Safe, Scalable AI for Schools

Case study session with Oak National Academy

Aila is Oak National Academy’s AI-powered lesson assistant—the first publicly funded generative-AI tool deployed at scale. In this session, Will Gayne, Product Strategy & Impact Director, will share how Aila works, how its cutting-edge design bakes in safety and reliability, and the early impact it’s having on teacher workload. Hear about Aila’s built-in safeguards and evaluation, and see how it helps teachers co-create high-quality, national curriculum aligned lessons, in a fraction of the usual time.

Speaker:

Will Gayne, Director of Product Strategy and Impact, Oak National Academy

Session to be announced shortly

UK Sovereign AI: Own your Data. Own your Future

The UK has world-class talent and an ambitious AI roadmap. Yet much of our digital estate and data isn’t completely under our control. This session explores a pragmatic path on how to keep sensitive data under UK control, operate confidently in highly secure or disconnected environments, and reduce operational risk without sacrificing innovation and capability as we move closer to the edge. Agentycs is making state of the art, sovereign AI usable today: A UK-built Agentic AI platform that lets departments own their data, own their AI and ultimately, own their future. The UK is a capable, powerful nation. Let’s convert investment into lasting capability and choose resilience over reliance.

Supported by:

Streamlining Consultations: Using AI to Reduce Operational Overhead

Case study session with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

Public consultations play a vital role in government policy making, but they come with a substantial operational burden to process responses. Join us as we explore how SIFT, a DSIT-built tool, is leveraging AI on live consultations to reduce the manual overhead and speed up the analysis enabling experts to deliver better policy, faster.  By automating the extraction of insights from free-text responses—often the most valuable but hardest to process— we are saving days to weeks of manual effort.

Speakers:

Jon Fuller, Lead AI Engineer, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

Mollie Gover, Senior AI Engineer, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology