Foreword

by Cognizant, our knowledge partner for Digital Leaders 2024

Artificial Intelligence (AI) represents a potentially transformative shift for government – one that could revolutionise policymaking, national security and the delivery of public services. As we stand at the cusp of this technological evolution, it’s a privilege and a responsibility to consider the profound implications and opportunities AI offers UK government.

That’s why Cognizant was delighted to sponsor Global Government Forum’s Digital Leaders Study 2024, which explores the UK government’s preparedness for adopting AI.

As a digital and data delivery partner to the UK government since 2017, we welcome the report’s emphasis on AI’s potential to revolutionise how government operates. Delivering an AI-powered government requires a clear understanding of what this technology can achieve. And it also needs more than just technological expertise; it requires public trust, won through transparency and wise regulation.

This report underscores the critical imperative for a unified AI vision and for coordinated action across government departments. The consolidation of AI bodies within the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) is a step in the right direction, unifying AI leadership and setting the stage for a cohesive strategy that transcends silos in pursuit of deep collaboration.

The report delves into other core issues such as the critical role of data quality, better understanding of AI investment pathways, and building more nuanced regulatory frameworks. It envisions a future where AI is seamlessly integrated into government, driving efficiency, transparency and public service excellence. And it highlights the need for frugal innovation and learning from other leaders around the world, most of all Singapore’s proactive and practical approach to AI integration.

As the new government starts work on delivering its five missions for the UK, the role of technology cannot be overlooked. This report offers a roadmap for that AI journey, with insights and recommendations on how to harness it for the betterment of people, communities and public infrastructure.

This report underscores the critical imperative for a unified AI vision and for coordinated action across government departments

Embedding AI across government departments and functions is not just a strategic choice – it’s a necessity to ensure the UK remains competitive and responsive in an increasingly digital world. Its potential to enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and improve outcomes is immense. And the UK can lead the way.

So, while the journey ahead may be challenging, it’s a journey the UK must undertake and do so with foresight, responsibility, and determination. I trust this report will play a key part in informing the UK’s approach to the AI race in the coming years.

Yatin Mahandru
Vice-president and head of public sector & health,
Cognizant, September 2024

Introduction

As we worked on Digital Leaders 2024, UK politics shifted significantly. We now have a new government (elected with a landslide majority), facing a difficult inheritance and keen to present itself as a group of pragmatic fixers. It’s doing this with strict fiscal constraints which mean that reform, not higher spending, must be the path to putting public services back on track.

At the same time, the past 24 months have been defined by a remarkable new wave of AI. Governments, private companies and individual citizens around the world are embracing generative tools that look set to offer huge productivity gains and appear highly disruptive. Within government, it’s set to be far more transformative than digital was in changing how the state operates.

This Digital Leaders 2024 report sits squarely between these two developments. Using the 7 Lenses of transformation as our guide (as in our previous Digital Leaders reports), we interviewed 10 UK leaders in government to understand how ready the state is to transition to AI. Their views provide invaluable insights.

Unfortunately, we heard that the UK is far from ready to capitalise on the opportunities offered by AI. This was encapsulated by a comment made in one interview that when it comes to implementing AI within government: “It’s like we’re driving a car with one foot very firmly pressed down on the accelerator and one foot pressed down on the brake.”

We were told that Whitehall is doing exemplary, even world-leading work around standards and AI safety. The first AI Safety Summit hosted at Bletchley Park and the AI Safety Institute are both good examples of this. Policy efforts like these are what this interviewee is referring to as ‘the brake’.

On the other hand, there’s considerable ministerial interest and external hype about AI, including from supportive think-tanks and private sector experts. This is creating huge expectations about what AI can offer and some early innovative work on this within government too – this is ‘the accelerator’.

There’s little evidence of a well-understood cross-government vision for AI yet

Both are important. We should be managing risks and exploiting the opportunities of AI at the same time. But, as interviewees told us again and again, the practical work that must underpin ‘the accelerator’ – the testing, trialling, implementing and scaling-up of AI applications – isn’t anywhere near advanced enough. There’s lots of talk, but not enough action to make sure we really are hitting that accelerator.

This was clear across all 7 Lenses of transformation. For example, there’s little evidence of a well- understood cross-government vision for AI yet, let alone a fleshed-out design or plan. Some departments are rushing ahead in its absence (while others move more slowly), but there’s little coordination or collaboration of this activity. We have a long way to go on these and the other lenses. In the final section of this report, we provide detailed recommendations for each lens, drawing on lessons from past successful digital transformation programmes in government.

Overall, this may sound like a pessimistic outlook. But the new government has already taken steps to improve this situation.

By consolidating the Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO), Incubator for Artificial Intelligence (i.AI), and the Government Digital Service (GDS) within DSIT, they have created a clear, unified voice for AI in government. It addresses one of the overriding concerns raised by interviewees: the lack of a single source for AI leadership. The new hub should be an invaluable first step to addressing this failing.

And there are other reasons to be hopeful. While finances are undoubtedly squeezed, this creates space for frugal innovation and focuses minds on the need for reform. The advancements around AI are already impressive and show few signs of slowing. And so, with this new configuration of AI bodies in Whitehall, there’s a chance to reset the government’s approach – with a new AI vision underpinned by practical actions.

In other words, we can improve – and improve fast. It just takes a government that’s willing to be bold and seize the opportunities that AI presents. Our message to them is clear: they should do exactly that. It’s time to commit to AI and really press down on the accelerator.

Kevin Cunnington
September 2024

A note on methodology

This edition of Digital Leaders focuses on the topics of AI and data within the UK government. The primary research source was 10 interviews with digital leaders in government today, exploring their perceptions of the UK’s performance on AI across the 7 Lenses of transformation (see Matrix on the following page). We also conducted some additional desk research.

Our 10 interviewees were drawn from different grades and bodies across government. They ranged from permanent secretaries to senior leaders in digital roles. They included people from ministerial departments, the centre of government (comprising No.10 Downing Street and the Cabinet Office), non-ministerial departments, and executive non-departmental public bodies. Quotes from all interviews are unattributed and we have removed identifiable material from them.

We thank all of the following officials for taking part in interviews for this project:

• Susan Acland-Hood permanent secretary, Department for Education
• Victoria Bew head of strategy, i.AI
• Yvonne Gallagher digital director, National Audit Office
• David Knott chief technology officer, UK Government
• Tom Read (then) chief executive officer, Government Digital Service
• Daljit Rehal chief digital and information officer, HMRC
• Tom Smith chief data officer, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
• Huw Stephens chief information officer, HM Treasury
• Ming Tang chief data and analytics officer, NHS England
• Rob Thompson chief technology officer, Home Office

In addition, Saheel Sankriwala (chief technology officer at the Department for Education) was present for our interview with Susan Acland-Hood and contributed to the discussions.

To augment our research, we used Redbox – a generative AI tool being developed by i.AI – to analyse interview transcripts and provide insights. Crucially, we used this to test the analysis that we had already conducted (without AI tools), rather than as any substitute for doing so. All transcripts were fully pseudonymised before being analysed by Redbox and all data was handled securely.

Some of the Redbox output is included in the appendix at the end of this report.

Further insights were gleaned from the AI Study Tour that Global Government Forum (GGF) hosted in June 2024. During this tour, senior officials from the government of Barbados came to the UK and visited key government units working on AI (such as GDS and i.AI) as well as private companies such as Cognizant and Hippo Digital. This offered a chance to share best practice and build connections between leaders beyond Whitehall, further enhancing our understanding of the global AI race.

A note on authorship

To produce this research, GGF – the publishing house for civil servants around the world – teamed up with Kevin Cunnington.

Kevin is a senior UK digital leader who spent his early career in programming and IT consultancy, later becoming the global head of online for Vodafone Group and director general of the Business Transformation Group at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). He was director general of the UK’s Government Digital Service (GDS) from August 2016 to July 2019, and digital envoy for the UK and director general of the International Government Service until 2021.

Kevin worked with James Sweetland, a researcher, journalist and consultant who works on government reform, policing and tech policy, and Yatin Mahandru, vice president and head of public sector and health, UK and Ireland for Cognizant, to conduct the interviews and write this report.

Cognizant, one of the largest technology services companies in the world, was GGF’s knowledge partner for this project. Cognizant is a digital and data delivery partner to UK Government in central, health and defence, delivering citizen-facing services and outcomes since 2017. In addition, the company helps clients across wide-ranging industries in the UK and Ireland modernise technology, reimagine processes and transform experiences so they can make the most of technology to stay ahead in our fast-changing world.

Throughout this report, where you see the word ‘I’ in the text, that’s Kevin speaking. ‘We’ refers to Kevin, James and Yatin.