AI integration in UK civil service garners expert reactions

The UK Government's pledge to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into the civil service has drawn responses from experts across the technology sector.

James Hall, Vice President and Country Manager UK&I at Snowflake, commended the government's consistent ambitions around AI, highlighting the importance of accountability.

"The Government has been consistent in its outlook and ambitions around AI. But as the Prime Minister has pointed out, AI use within the public sector must be accountable, with every pound spent and every decision made aimed at delivering for working people," said Hall.

He emphasised the necessity of high-quality, accessible data for AI systems to be effective and called for a proactive governance framework.

"Centralising, securing and scaling data for AI applications, enabling organisations to confidently achieve measurable outcomes, will be key here. AI systems are only as powerful as the data they're trained on, making high-quality, accessible data essential."

"Rather than struggling with a reactive approach tackling new technology case by case which can be costly, the Government should also focus on AI governance frameworks that proactively seek ways to address challenges, such as privacy and autonomy."

"Data sharing across trusted ecosystems will help the Government reach its goals, but also ensure its use of AI is accountable, free of bias and measurable," Hall continued.

Ian Jeffs, UK&I Country General Manager at Lenovo Infrastructure Solutions Group, noted the government's initiative as a step towards modernisation and efficiency in public services.

"The UK Government's move to integrate AI into the civil service is a proactive step towards improving efficiency and modernising public services. There has been huge demand for the public sector to adopt emerging technology, and the latest announcement reinforces this ambition," Jeffs stated.

However, Jeffs pointed out several challenges that need to be addressed, including training, data quality, and scaling initiatives.

"While investment and confidence in AI continue to grow, critical challenges remain around training staff, poor data quality and scaling initiatives. Careful implementation is required by governmental departments to ensure the right frameworks are in place to enable innovation and productivity. For it to be considered a success, the UK Government must be proactive and implement impactful AI solutions that showcase ROI and turn words into actionable outcomes," he added.

Rupal Karia, General Manager UKI & MEA at Celonis, identified the potential for AI to streamline outdated processes within government systems, freeing civil servants' time.

"Government systems are complex, with a lot of important information being shared between teams and across disparate systems. There are some obvious quick wins for the Government in automating tasks through AI that are currently reliant on outdated processes and require a lot of manual input," Karia explained.

Karia cautioned against implementing AI without proper integration of systems and process alignment, which could lead to increased complexity.

"However the risk is in deploying AI without systems speaking the same language and having the same organisational context. This is only possible through Process Intelligence platforms like Celonis. We are excited to build on our work with the Cabinet Office to streamline its Shared Services for Government computer system which serves half a million civil servants. Without getting the processes and data in order first there is a risk of the government adding another layer of complexity to the civil service instead of easing workloads and saving costs," Karia mentioned.

Damian Stirrett, Group Vice President & General Manager UK & Ireland at ServiceNow, lauded the potential for AI to transform the public sector.

"The Prime Minister's announcement to "reshape" the state offers a huge opportunity to reinforce the UK's ambitions to be an AI leader across the public sector. The private sector is already proving what's possible—AI-driven automation is cutting error rates by up to 50% and reducing casework time by over a third," Stirrett noted.

Stirrett highlighted the advantages of Agentic AI in achieving organisational efficiency and called for investment in this technology.

"AI, and Agentic AI in particular, will be central to a successful and sustainable transformation, and it is promising to hear Keir Starmer's plans for greater use of AI in the civil service."

"Agentic AI is the new frontier, delivering predictability and efficiency across organisations. Investing and implementing Agentic AI will enable the civil service, and public state as a whole, to meet demands faster, smarter, and at scale. Today's pledge is one of many important steps the UK is taking to becoming a true AI leader," he concluded.