The Business of AI

This week Tim gets a ride at the buzzy Uber x Wayve robotaxi launch in London ("AI on wheels" and, "a real milestone for the British AI industry"), digs into the £100m government fund backing British AI startups, unpacks the Matt Clifford-to-Anthropic conflict-of-interest row, pushes back on calls for a data centre moratorium, and covers Nvidia's $12.9bn Hugging Face buy, new AI "kill switch" bills in the UK and US, and Matt Lucas and Hugh Bonneville's campaign to protect actors' voices from cloning. A quick look at the week in British AI.The views expressed in this video are Tim's own personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of UKAI or any of its members.AI is our Business.UKAI is the Trade Association for AI businesses across the UK. Join us, ukai.co

Why does AI-generated code so often look sloppy, even when it works? Kevin Coyle, founder of Drutek, joins the podcast to explain why the missing ingredient isn't better prompts, it's context. He breaks down how design systems give AI tools the grounding to produce consistent, on-brand results, and shares his "harvest" framework for getting every employee, not just developers, involved in building with AI.The conversation then turns to the UK's competitiveness, with Kevin drawing on his experience running a US office to compare tax, talent and ambition on both sides of the Atlantic. He's blunt about the barriers facing British businesses, but optimistic that the UK's foundations are strong enough to compete, if policy catches up with the moment.AI is our Business.UKAI is the Trade Association for AI businesses across the UK. Join us, ukai.co

What if every small business could access the same financial expertise as a global enterprise? This conversation with Daniel Callis from Beyla AI explores how AI is making that possible. Beyla is building a conversational platform that acts like a virtual CFO. From cash flow forecasting to personalised business guidance, the discussion highlights how AI can help founders make smarter decisions without needing a large finance team.The conversation also examines the future of agentic AI, trust, and digital sovereignty. It explores why building AI-first infrastructure matters for security and governance, the UK's opportunity to become a leader in trusted AI, and how responsible, human-centric technology can empower businesses while keeping transparency and customer outcomes at the forefront.AI is our Business.UKAI is the Trade Association for AI businesses across the UK. Join us, ukai.co

AI transformation isn't a technology challenge, it's a leadership challenge. This conversation explores why the biggest barriers to AI adoption are human, not technical, from fear and shame to curiosity, humility, and the willingness to learn. Kirsty Mac from Illuminate AI shares how coaching leaders to embrace uncertainty creates the culture needed for meaningful AI transformation.The discussion also looks at how organisations can make AI relevant to every employee by focusing on real business problems rather than the technology itself. From the power of play and experimentation to the evolving role of HR and learning teams, it offers practical insights into building an AI-ready culture where people, processes, and technology evolve together.AI is our Business.UKAI is the Trade Association for AI businesses across the UK. Join us, ukai.co

Social media has become exceptionally good at rewarding attention and dangerously poor at rewarding social value. This episode explores a different model: using AI to amplify credible voices, strengthen communities and direct recognition toward people creating real-world impact. The business opportunity is bigger than building another platform. It is about redesigning the incentives behind digital participation, citizen journalism and online trust.A physicist, lawyer, AI consultant and startup founder, Isvari draws on experience across cybersecurity, data privacy, media and nonprofit work. She also challenges the narrow image of who gets to lead technology companies, describing pressure to install a white male figurehead to improve fundraising prospects. Her message to women and ethnic-minority founders is to enter negotiations with confidence, demand fair value and refuse to internalise other people’s assumptions. But ambition must be matched by restraint: AI can expand human capability, yet without ethical deployment, accountability and limits on concentrated power, the same technology could deepen inequality and create systemic risk.AI is our Business.UKAI is the Trade Association for AI businesses across the UK. Join us, ukai.co

AI’s biggest opportunity is not simply cutting costs or accelerating output. It is improving people’s lives without leaving anyone behind. Jenny Garrett argues that leaders need to move beyond narrow productivity metrics and ask who benefits, who is excluded, and how AI can augment human potential. Drawing on examples in healthcare, education, refugee support and digital inclusion, she shows how equitable AI can shift the conversation from fear to practical, positive impact.A leadership coach and entrepreneur, Jenny also highlights why women and underrepresented groups must help shape AI rather than remain outside the room. Bias compounds across gender, age, ethnicity and neurodiversity, making representation in data, design and decision-making commercially and socially critical. Her message to leaders is direct: treat inclusion as an implementation priority, build communities that support diverse talent, and measure AI transformation by the human value it creates.AI is our Business.UKAI is the Trade Association for AI businesses across the UK. Join us, ukai.co

AI will not replace creativity, but it could reshape who gets to create, whose work is protected and which stories reach the market. Tanya argues that the real business challenge is not whether creative industries adopt AI, but who sets the rules. Used well, AI can lower production barriers, help independent creators build on their own terms and unlock new formats. Used without consent or representation, it risks concentrating power, exploiting creative rights and reproducing existing inequalities.A creative entrepreneur, writer and producer, Tanya connects technology adoption with social impact and cultural influence. Her work with Black AI Futures focuses on ensuring Black and global-majority communities help shape policy, ethics and implementation rather than absorbing decisions made elsewhere. Her message to creatives is practical: learn the tools before judging them, treat AI as an enabler rather than an authority, and start building without waiting for permission. In a market transformed by technology, creative confidence, ownership and persistence may become the strongest competitive advantages.AI is our Business.UKAI is the Trade Association for AI businesses across the UK. Join us, ukai.co

AI adoption will not create value until organisations can answer three questions: where is it changing workflows, what measurable value is it producing, and who is accountable? Tram argues that finance must move beyond disconnected pilots towards shared use cases, practical capability-building and responsible implementation. Initiatives such as AI sandboxes, industry academies and an AI observatory can help firms learn faster, compare approaches and scale proven applications with appropriate controls.A former finance executive turned education entrepreneur, Tram also warns that AI’s leadership gap is a business risk. Women remain underrepresented among those building and governing the technology, limiting the perspectives shaping products, policy and investment. Her response is to combine AI literacy, networks and mentorship with a goal of preparing 10,000 women to lead in AI. The wider lesson is that professionals do not need to abandon their existing expertise. Competitive advantage will come from combining deep sector knowledge with AI tools, confidence and the willingness to redesign how work gets done.AI is our Business.UKAI is the Trade Association for AI businesses across the UK. Join us, ukai.co

Most AI pilots do not fail because the technology is weak. They fail because nobody truly owns the operational problem, incentives reward the status quo, data is fragmented and insights never reach the people empowered to act. The critical lesson is to start with a measurable business problem, design the workflow around action and define the route to scale before the pilot begins. A demonstration proves that AI can work. A transformation plan proves that the business can use it.Tom, a former global consumer executive and co-founder of Intelligent Core, explains how AI, sensors and long-range drones can make heavy industry more predictive, efficient and resilient. But software alone is not enough. Trust must be earned through transparent recommendations, human oversight and visible performance in the field. The result is a practical blueprint for turning AI from another dashboard into an operational system that reduces downtime, detects failures earlier and creates lasting value across assets, utilities and infrastructure.AI is our Business.UKAI is the Trade Association for AI businesses across the UK. Join us, ukai.co

AI spending is rising faster than the evidence that it works. The real problem is not lack of ambition, but lack of observability: companies see the cloud bills immediately, while productivity gains remain hypothetical. The episode argues that businesses need to treat AI less like a hype-led experiment and more like a value-tracked investment, with clear outcomes, governance, and ROI measures built in before pilots begin.Sam from Fern AI makes the case for a more disciplined AI adoption model: start with business outcomes, keep existing KPIs where they still matter, track attribution, and create safe “playground” environments where teams can experiment without catastrophic risk. The strongest insight is that adoption will not come from more tools alone. It will come from giving employees the confidence, controls, and commercial clarity to turn AI from scattered innovation into measurable business advantage.AI is our Business.UKAI is the Trade Association for AI businesses across the UK. Join us, ukai.co

AI should work like autopilot: powerful enough to accelerate progress, but never trusted so blindly that people lose the ability to take control. The biggest risk is not the technology itself. It is cognitive offloading, weak governance and leaders pursuing efficiency without a clear view of the value they may destroy. Successful AI adoption requires strong human judgement, reliable data and a strategy that connects every department rather than trapping experimentation inside IT.Ed, a former commercial pilot and founder of Kintara, explains how aviation principles can make AI implementation safer and more effective. Leaders need clear checklists, defined accountability and the confidence to act when systems fail. Purpose-led organisations may have an advantage because their mission provides a North Star for deciding where AI should and should not be used. Responsible AI is therefore not simply a compliance exercise. Done well, it strengthens trust, innovation, sustainability and long-term competitive advantage.AI is our Business.UKAI is the Trade Association for AI businesses across the UK. Join us, ukai.co

Most AI programmes fail because companies teach tools instead of changing how work gets done. Real AI literacy is not “buttonology”; it is the confidence, judgement and curiosity to rethink problems, redesign workflows and experiment safely. Leaders must go further than frontline users. Their role is to challenge legacy processes, remove organisational blockers and create the conditions for adoption. Simply layering AI onto a 25-step workflow will not deliver transformation when the process itself could be rebuilt in ten.Greg, a commercial leader turned founder of the Data and AI Literacy Academy, argues that AI adoption is fundamentally a multi-year change programme. The biggest obstacle is often the “frozen middle”: managers who connect executive ambition with day-to-day execution but may resist disruption. Sustainable ROI therefore depends on behavioural science, internal communications, role-specific learning and continual reinforcement. Companies should also measure return on employee, including retention, fulfilment and the ability to shift people from repetitive tasks into more strategic work.AI is our Business.UKAI is the Trade Association for AI businesses across the UK. Join us, ukai.co

Most AI adoption fails because businesses force employees into yet another system. The bigger opportunity is to bring trusted intelligence into familiar workflows, especially email, so people can access business data without learning new dashboards, navigating disconnected platforms or relying blindly on generative AI. The commercial value lies in reducing friction, widening access and turning siloed information into faster, more confident decisions.Ilann, a marketing-services executive turned AI founder, explains how ShopAI connects employees to governed business data through natural-language requests. Its approach separates data retrieval from language generation: structured queries produce validated answers, while language models translate them into usable responses. That design aims to reduce hallucinations, control costs and create an auditable trail. The broader lesson is that enterprise AI will scale when it is human-first, embedded in existing habits and trusted enough to support real operational decisions.AI is our Business.UKAI is the Trade Association for AI businesses across the UK. Join us, ukai.co

AI transformation is the wrong goal. Businesses should be building for continuous adaptation. New tools will keep emerging, operating conditions will keep shifting, and there may never be a stable “after” state. The organisations that win will be those that understand how work actually gets done, identify where AI can create measurable value, and redesign their operating models without sacrificing effectiveness for speed.Sarah, an operational transformation specialist with more than two decades of experience, argues that AI should be built on solid foundations: clear processes, reliable data, effective governance and engaged employees. Her strongest lesson is that adoption improves when people help shape the change rather than having technology imposed on them. AI can automate analysis and remove operational friction, but it cannot yet replace institutional knowledge, judgment or human context. Sustainable ROI will come from human-centred operating models that use AI to extend people’s capabilities, not simply eliminate roles.AI is our Business.UKAI is the Trade Association for AI businesses across the UK. Join us, ukai.co

AI could become the most powerful workplace adjustment ever created—or another system that quietly excludes millions. The difference comes down to design. Accessibility cannot be retrofitted after launch or treated as a compliance exercise. With one in four people in the UK living with a disability, inclusive AI is not a niche concern. It is a mainstream product, workforce and commercial issue.Rachel, an independent AI ethicist and operations consultant, explains how generative AI can reduce barriers by summarising information, supporting different communication needs and offering personalised assistance without forcing employees to disclose a disability. But the opportunity will be lost if organisations ignore training, biased data and inaccessible interfaces. She makes the case that we should involve disabled people in design, question vendors about testing and failure modes, and equip managers to support adoption. Done well, accessible AI improves dignity, productivity and innovation. Done badly, it simply automates exclusion.AI is our Business.UKAI is the Trade Association for AI businesses across the UK. Join us, ukai.co

AI agents will not transform productivity if employees must supervise dozens of disconnected tools. The real opportunity is orchestration: one intelligent interface that coordinates tasks, people, systems and deadlines while keeping every action visible and auditable. That requires more than automation. It demands persistent reasoning across time, clear ownership and rigorous quality controls so agents know when to act, when to follow up and when to escalate.Howard, a product designer turned AI founder, explains how Alknoma is building an execution layer for operational teams. Its agents can assign work, track delivery, chase dependencies and integrate with tools such as Slack, Teams, Jira and Google Drive. The business case is reduced coordination overhead and faster execution without creating another black box. His wider argument is equally important: SaaS is not dead, because businesses still need maintenance, accountability and service. The future belongs to human-centred agent orchestration that simplifies complexity rather than adding to it.AI is our Business.UKAI is the Trade Association for AI businesses across the UK. Join us, ukai.co

Most companies are measuring AI too narrowly. The real business opportunity is not just productivity, but removing the hidden friction that stops people doing their best work. AI can reduce cognitive load, help structure thinking, hold context, and make work more accessible, especially for neuro-divergent employees navigating systems built around a narrow idea of how people should operate.Emma, a customer success specialist at Computacenter, brings a sharp people-and-systems lens to AI adoption. Her message is clear: AI should not replace human support, judgment, or care. Used responsibly, it can act like workplace scaffolding, helping people contribute at a higher level without burning out. For leaders, the question is no longer simply “does AI make teams faster?” It is “who does AI enable, and what barriers can it remove?AI is our Business.UKAI is the Trade Association for AI businesses across the UK. Join us, ukai.co

AI’s biggest value in risk may not be faster detection, it may be stopping people before harm happens. In fraud, financial crime, and scam prevention, the next wave of AI will be less about back-office automation and more about real-time intervention: nudging customers, challenging suspicious payments, and helping organisations detect patterns that legacy rules miss.Heather leads global risk and compliance services at Accenture, bringing a business-first view of how AI can strengthen trust in financial systems. Her message is also a leadership one: AI cannot be designed by a narrow group of people for everyone else. To use AI for society’s benefit, more women and more diverse voices need to shape the tools, use cases, and safeguards. The opportunity is open to anyone willing to learn, experiment, and get involved.Emma, a customer success specialist at Computacenter, brings a sharp people-and-systems lens to AI adoption. Her message is clear: AI should not replace human support, judgment, or care. Used responsibly, it can act like workplace scaffolding, helping people contribute at a higher level without burning out. For leaders, the question is no longer simply “does AI make teams faster?” It is “who does AI enable, and what barriers can it remove?AI is our Business.UKAI is the Trade Association for AI businesses across the UK. Join us, ukai.co

Responsible AI is often treated as a compliance burden. That is a mistake. Done properly, governance becomes an innovation gate: helping organisations build AI that is safer, more trusted and easier to scale. The real challenge is moving beyond mature privacy or security controls and creating AI governance that works across the full lifecycle from design and harms assessment to deployment and oversight.Seto, an AI governance and ethics practitioner with a privacy background, shows why this field needs more than technical expertise. It needs people who can translate risk, regulation and human impact into practical controls. Her message for women entering AI is clear: the path does not have to be linear. Passion, governance experience and a commitment to fairness can be just as powerful as a technical degree. The future is not just responsible AI, it is responsible innovation.Women in AI special episode with Zahra Shah.AI is our Business.UKAI is the Trade Association for AI businesses across the UK. Join us, ukai.co

AI hallucinations are no longer just technical glitches. They are becoming reputational, legal and financial risks for companies, public bodies and individuals. As LLMs become a primary source of knowledge, what AI says about a brand, leader, government or institution can shape public perception even when it is wrong, biased or based on partisan data.Ian, founder of FlarePoint, argues that businesses need to monitor AI-generated narratives with the same seriousness they apply to cyber, legal and brand risk. The challenge is both external and internal: hallucinations can damage public trust, while model bias can influence decisions inside banks, investors and public institutions. The UK has a clear opportunity: flexible regulation, stronger accountability and new tools for narrative integrity could turn responsible AI governance into a competitive advantage.AI is our Business.UKAI is the Trade Association for AI businesses across the UK. Join us, ukai.co

AI policy is no longer just about risk. It is becoming a lever for investment, market confidence and national competitiveness. The hardest challenge is balancing innovation with stability: creating rules that protect consumers without slowing the technologies that could reshape financial markets, defence, energy and healthcare.Angela, a senior commercial, technology and investment executive, works at the intersection of regulation, innovation and capital mobilisation. Her career shows why AI leadership needs cross-sector range, not narrow expertise. From financial services transformation to advising on digital assets, tokenisation and deep tech investment, the future of AI will be shaped by people who can translate between regulators, investors, innovators and governments, and turn complexity into scalable economic impact.Women in AI Special Episode with Zahra Shah.AI is our Business.UKAI is the Trade Association for AI businesses across the UK. Join us, ukai.co

AI ambition is outpacing data readiness. Companies want agentic AI, automation and enterprise-scale intelligence, but many are still running on fragmented systems, unclear ownership and messy legacy data. The real bottleneck is not model capability. It is the “data value gap”: the distance between the data organisations collect and the business value they can actually extract from it.Fuad, co-founder and MD of Hark Consultants, argues that data must become a board-level performance driver, not a back-office concern. That means clear accountability, stronger data literacy, secure data sovereignty and governance built into AI projects from day one. For business leaders, the message is direct: scalable AI starts long before deployment. Get the foundations right, and AI can unlock new products, revenue streams and operating models. Skip them, and AI stays trapped in pilots.AI is our Business.UKAI is the Trade Association for AI businesses across the UK. Join us, ukai.co

Most companies treat AI adoption as a technology problem. The harder challenge is cultural: helping people know when to use AI, when not to, and how to make responsible choices by default. Responsible AI is not just governance paperwork. It is an operating model for trust, value and risk management.Petra, who leads responsible AI engagement at the BBC, shows why the field needs more than technical specialists. Her “squiggly” career across software, publishing, media and digital strategy has become an advantage, not a liability. AI transformation needs people who can connect systems, stories and social impact. Diverse career paths may be exactly what organisations need to turn AI from a buzzword into responsible business value.AI is our Business.UKAI is the Trade Association for AI businesses across the UK. Join us, ukai.co

The AI race may not be won by bigger language models. Manish argues that LLMs are powerful interfaces, but weak foundations for true intelligence because language alone cannot capture planning, creativity or cross-domain reasoning. Jiva.ai is taking a different route: bottom-up model fusion, designed to merge specialised models into more efficient, resilient systems that can generalise across complex problems.The business implication is significant. As enterprises hit limits around cloud dependency, data leakage, compliance and compute cost, sovereign AI becomes more than a national policy idea. It becomes an enterprise operating requirement. Manish, a molecular geneticist turned AI founder, makes the case for AI systems that organisations can own, control and deploy securely, especially in regulated sectors like healthcare, finance and insurance. The challenge for the UK is not talent. It is scale capital and risk appetite.AI is our Business.UKAI is the Trade Association for AI businesses across the UK. Join us, ukai.co

AI’s productivity promise has a darker twin: a fast-growing fraud economy built on manipulation, deepfakes, voice cloning and human psychology. The real business risk is not just technical vulnerability, it is workforce vulnerability. Companies racing to adopt AI need fraud resilience as a core operating capability, not a compliance afterthought.Aarti, a technology leader turned AI fraud resilience founder, argues that safe adoption requires a human-led approach: train people, cut through both AI hype and fear, and build confidence without ignoring risk. Her career also highlights important lessons: non-linear paths, resilience and diverse leadership are not side stories. They shape better systems, stronger organisations and more equitable outcomes.Women in AI special episode, hosted by Zahra Shah.AI is our Business.UKAI is the Trade Association for AI businesses across the UK. Join us, ukai.co

AI is no longer just helping people find businesses, it is becoming the first version of the business they encounter. That creates a new reputational risk: if ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude describes an organisation badly, cites outdated information, or recommends a competitor, customers may never reach the website at all. The shift from search to answer means companies must stop thinking only about SEO rankings and start managing how AI systems represent them.Tom, founder of Awareness AI, explains why generative engine optimisation is becoming a board-level issue for public-facing organisations. His work shows that models can pull from stale pages, third-party sources, Reddit, X, Google profiles and fragmented data to produce confident but wrong answers. Organisations need to audit what AI says about them, then they need to structure website schema, keep business profiles fresh, publish strong FAQs, and monitor model responses over time. In the AI search era, reputation management starts before the customer even clicks.AI is our Business.UKAI is the Trade Association for AI businesses across the UK. Join us, ukai.co

AI may be scaling fast, but we hear from Nikolay that the current wave has already hit a ceiling. Pattern recognition alone is not enough to deliver the next leap in business value. Nikolay's company Braintree believes that the future lies in symbolic AI: systems that do more than predict likely outputs and instead work with abstractions, concepts and meaning. That matters commercially because it points to AI that can operate more like a true interface between people and data, with stronger reasoning, faster real-time performance and far lower infrastructure demands.The bigger business claim is efficiency. Nikolay argues that by mimicking how human memory rewrites, compresses and reorganises information, Braintree can dramatically cut data size, compute requirements and energy use. That has implications far beyond model design: lower operating costs, more practical deployment, and a credible path to sovereign AI stacks that keep data local and controllable. As a founder building outside the mainstream LLM playbook, Nikolay positions Braintree not as a rejection of today’s AI boom, but as building the next generation of AI.AI is our Business.UKAI is the Trade Association for AI businesses across the UK. Join us, ukai.co

Most AI investments fail for a simple reason: companies start with the tool, not the business need. Productivity gains do not come from layering AI onto existing workflows, but from rethinking how decisions, information and value actually move through an organisation. The real job is not prompt engineering or model selection. It is business analysis: clarifying outcomes, mapping processes, understanding where value is created, and only then deciding where automation or augmentation belongs.Adam Hadley, CEO of Quantspark, makes the case that the winners will not be the firms with the most AI pilots, but the ones with the strongest management, clearest operating models and willingness to redesign work. He sees a widening gap between organisations that frame AI strategically and those still debating whether to act. His advice to leaders is blunt: ignore the hype, map your business on one page, identify what is becoming commoditised, and use AI to move up the value chain. The bigger risk now is not adopting too fast, but moving too slowly while competitors compound the advantage.AI is our Business.UKAI is the Trade Association for AI businesses across the UK. Join us, ukai.co

Ethical AI is not a compliance add-on, it is a competitive advantage. This episode makes the case that better AI outcomes come from better design choices at the start: diverse teams, explainable systems, safer data practices and a sharper understanding of who a product serves. In healthcare, that is not just a moral argument. It is an operational and commercial one. Done well, AI can cut delays in lung cancer diagnosis and treatment, ease pressure on clinicians, reduce NHS costs and improve patient outcomes.Femma Ashraf is the founder of Astronomical AI. Her company is building tools to detect and segment lung cancer from CT scans in minutes, but the bigger challenge is deployment: gaining trust, accessing patient data safely, navigating fragmented NHS processes and proving the system works in the real world. The broader lesson for leaders is clear: AI creates value when ethics, execution and business need are built together from day one.AI is our Business.UKAI is the Trade Association for AI businesses across the UK. Join us, ukai.co

Nobody wants to be governed. Everyone wants to be excellent. That simple reframe is at the heart of this conversation with Graeme King, a data and AI governance veteran who argues that the way we talk about data management is holding businesses back just as much as the data problems themselves.With 25 years of experience across industries as varied as rail infrastructure, criminal justice, and the European Space Agency, Graeme has watched organisations stumble over the same fundamental problem time and again: their data isn't ready. In this episode, he joins Tim to make the case that before you chase the next shiny AI tool, you need to get your foundations right and that doing so doesn't have to mean boiling the ocean.He introduces the FAIR framework: making data Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable, as the clearest way to think about AI readiness, and argues that the real success of any AI deployment lives beneath the surface, in the unglamorous infrastructure most businesses would rather ignore. He also makes a compelling case for just-in-time governance: forget the massive enterprise-wide programme, build enough guardrails to innovate safely, use case by use case, and govern at the speed of innovation.They also tackle the unique challenges of high-stakes environments like healthcare, where a 2% failure rate isn't a statistic, it's lives, and explore whether synthetic data and digital twins are a genuine long-term solution or simply a bridge to something better.If your organisation is feeling the pressure to "just do AI," this episode is the reality check and the roadmap you need.AI is our Business.UKAI is the Trade Association for AI businesses across the UK. Join us, ukai.co

From busting myths about energy-hungry data centres to explaining why your fridge temperature could be saving your company thousands, Malcolm brings a refreshingly grounded perspective to one of the most polarising conversations in business today. Malcolm Buckley, founder of Bright Angles and a veteran of 25+ years in technology and data, joins Tim to cut through the noise around AI and sustainability. We explore why the headlines about AI "burning the world" don't tell the whole story, how UK businesses can take back control of their environmental footprint, and why the data you already have, imperfect as it is, is good enough to start making better decisions right now.Malcolm also makes the case for why the UK is uniquely positioned to lead the world on sovereign, sustainable AI infrastructure, and why the businesses shaping AI strategy today are, in his words, "the lucky generation in the room."If you're a business leader trying to navigate the gap between AI's promise and its real-world impact, this one's for you.AI is our Business.UKAI is the Trade Association for AI businesses across the UK. Join us, ukai.co

What if the real problem in food is not productivity, but a deep imbalance of power? Sophia Fannon-Howell, founder of Aterra.AI argues that the UK food system is structurally tilted against farmers: they carry the risk, produce the value, and yet capture only a fraction of the reward, while larger players control the data, the market visibility, and the negotiating leverage. In that context, AI matters not as a shiny new farming tool, but as a way to shift intelligence and influence back to the people at the base of the system.A data and innovation leader from the energy and commodities world, Sophia is building Aterra around a farmer-first model: shared data foundations, practical AI tools, and cooperative governance. The focus is deliberately unflashy but commercially powerful, helping farmers access grants, benchmark contracts, understand supply and demand, reduce waste, and strengthen local food networks. The bigger insight is that if farmers own their data and AI is used to correct market asymmetries rather than reinforce them, it can help create a food system that is more profitable, more regenerative, and far fairer.AI is our Business.UKAI is the Trade Association for AI businesses across the UK. Join us, ukai.co

AI isn’t held back by technology, it’s held back by fear. The real barrier to adoption inside companies isn’t capability, but confidence: employees worry about job loss, leaders struggle to change established workflows, and organisations lack the internal structures to make AI usable day-to-day. The companies that win won’t simply deploy AI tools; they’ll invest in education, shared knowledge systems, and cultural change that helps teams see AI as an amplifier of human capability rather than a replacement.Natalia Chronowiat, a business director at AI-driven digital agency Push, focuses on translating AI from hype into practical business infrastructure. Her work centres on workshops, training and internal “knowledge libraries” that help teams and clients integrate large language models into everyday operations. For Natalia, the next phase of AI adoption is organisational: building environments where experimentation is encouraged, curiosity replaces fear, and employees take ownership of learning new tools. As AI reshapes work, she argues the competitive edge will come from companies that cultivate adaptability, challenge assumptions, and empower people to actively shape how AI is used.AI is our Business.UKAI is the Trade Association for AI businesses across the UK. Join us, ukai.co

Who decides how AI reshapes society: technologists, governments, or the communities living with its consequences? As AI and digital platforms scale rapidly, policymakers face a difficult balance: enabling innovation and economic growth while protecting citizens from online harms, safeguarding children, and ensuring new technologies do not deepen existing inequalities.Baroness Uddin believes the answer lies in widening who participates in technology governance. A social worker turned member of the House of Lords, she brings decades of community advocacy into debates on AI, digital assets, and online safety. Through parliamentary groups and cross-sector roundtables with startups, academics, and major tech firms, she works to connect policy with real-world experience. Her approach reflects a core lesson for the AI era: effective regulation isn’t just written in legislatures, it emerges from sustained dialogue between innovators, policymakers, and the communities technology will ultimately reshape.AI is our Business.UKAI is the Trade Association for AI businesses across the UK. Join us, ukai.co

Most people are consuming AI tools. Far fewer are building with them and that gap is where the real opportunity lies. In this episode, AI strategist Sumathi Menno argues that the biggest barrier to AI adoption isn’t technical skill but hesitation. Through her work advising organisations and leading the nonprofit Women Defining AI, she focuses on turning curiosity into capability, helping professionals move from experimenting with prompts to actually building AI-powered products and solutions.With a background in financial services before moving into AI strategy, Sumathi now works with organisations struggling to translate AI hype into practical implementation. Her approach starts with understanding workflows and identifying targeted use cases rather than forcing AI adoption for its own sake. Alongside this advisory work, she runs hands-on initiatives, including hackathons that bring newcomers together to build AI prototypes for public sector challenges. The goal is simple but powerful: democratise AI creation, bring more women into building the technology, and ensure the next generation of AI systems is shaped by a broader set of voices.AI is our Business.UKAI is the Trade Association for AI businesses across the UK. Join us, ukai.co

World models could be the breakthrough that takes AI beyond predicting text and into understanding reality. In this episode, Linda Hong Cheng explains how these models, which learn the physical dynamics of environments, may unlock a new generation of AI capable of reasoning about complex systems. Her company, Lychee Labs, is already applying this approach to industrial manufacturing, building AI that integrates with digital twins of production lines to anticipate disruptions such as firmware changes, quality defects, or operational shocks before they cascade into costly downtime.Linda's work bridges frontier research and real-world deployment. With a background in computational social science and complex systems modelling, she is developing decision engines that combine neural networks, reinforcement learning, and world models to optimise industrial operations in real time. The broader ambition is “adaptive intelligence”: AI that can respond dynamically to unpredictable environments rather than simply generate predictions. She also explores a critical strategic issue for the industry: the linguistic and cultural biases embedded in today’s AI models, and why the future of AI will depend on who builds it and whose worldviews shape its design.AI is our Business.UKAI is the Trade Association for AI businesses across the UK. Join us, ukai.co

What if AI could prevent conflicts from escalating and create an auditable record of what really happens when they do? This episode explores a new category of AI focused not on productivity, but on structuring high-stakes human communication. Vanessa Carson, founder of Defuze and Thea Labs, is building systems designed to mediate difficult conversations and preserve “narrative integrity”, creating transparent, evidence-grade records of communication in environments where trust, consent, and accountability matter.A former film professional who moved into tech delivery in highly regulated industries, Carson built Defuze after noticing recurring breakdowns in human communication during complex, high-risk interactions. The company’s first product, a co-parenting platform, acts as a proving ground for broader applications across schools, the judicial system, and enterprises. Her work highlights an emerging opportunity in AI: infrastructure that reduces conflict, protects vulnerable users, and provides organisations with reliable, auditable communication trails.AI is our Business.UKAI is the Trade Association for AI businesses across the UK. Join us, ukai.co

AI isn’t just a technology race, it’s a trade policy battleground that will determine who captures value and who falls further behind. The real AI divide isn’t only about access to infrastructure, but about skills, governance, data rules, and the power embedded in digital trade agreements. As countries sign binding commitments on cross-border data flows, source code access, and digital taxation, the long-term development path of emerging economies is being quietly locked in.An economist at King's College London and advisor to the Commonwealth Businesswomen's Network, Karishma Banga argues the UK has a pivotal role: invest in digital infrastructure and skills across Commonwealth nations, take a cautious approach to AI trade provisions, and confront the environmental and fiscal trade-offs of data localisation and digital taxation. Her work bridges macro-level trade negotiations and micro-level labour impacts, asking a sharper question: will AI reinforce global inequality, or can smarter policy turn it into a new engine of inclusive growth?AI is our Business.UKAI is the Trade Association for AI businesses across the UK. Join us, ukai.co

If AI is so powerful, why are most companies seeing almost no real productivity gains? This episode exposes the uncomfortable truth: giving employees access to tools like ChatGPT or Copilot doesn’t transform a business, it just speeds up existing habits. The real value comes from redesigning workflows, developing role-specific use cases, and teaching people how to apply judgment and creativity alongside AI. Atheni.ai positions itself at this “last mile” of adoption, helping organisations move from superficial use to genuine operational change through hands-on support and a scalable “personal AI coach” that guides employees in real time.In this special 'Women of AI' episode, the conversation also challenges who gets to lead in this space. A communications executive turned founder, Louise launched her AI company in her 50s, arguing that experience, systems thinking, and communication skills, not just technical credentials, are what businesses actually need to deploy AI successfully. Her story highlights both the barriers women still face in funding and credibility, and the opportunity AI creates to lower entry barriers, empower new kinds of leaders, and bring more diverse voices into shaping how the technology is used.AI is our Business.UKAI is the Trade Association for AI businesses across the UK. Join us, ukai.co

Why are so many companies investing in AI but seeing so little real impact? Is the biggest barrier bad data, or a workforce that secretly lacks the confidence to use it? In this conversation with Vivek and Bryan from the Global AI Leaders Network (GAIL), we unpack why organisations are stuck in “pilot mode,” why AI still feels intimidating to non-technical teams, and why literacy, not infrastructure may be the true bottleneck.The discussion explores what actually moves the needle: safe “sandpit” environments where employees can experiment without fear, leadership that visibly uses AI, cross-functional teams tackling real business problems, and a culture that treats failure as part of progress. From marketing transformation to compliance automation, Vivek and Bryan share practical examples. They also warn that the biggest AI risk isn’t rogue superintelligence, it’s unintentional misuse by people who don’t fully understand the tools.Finally, the episode dives into responsible AI, governance, and how organisations can scale from scattered pilots to enterprise-wide impact. If you want to understand what separates companies that talk about AI from those actually transforming with it and how to build a “human + AI” workforce ready for the future, this conversation is packed with grounded, actionable insight.AI is our Business.UKAI is the Trade Association for AI businesses across the UK. Join us, ukai.co

AI can help make sense of complex infrastructure projects, turning disconnected systems into clear plans that improve efficiency at scale and help protect national infrastructure. Energy, water, and other essential networks are under growing pressure from new demand, climate goals, and public expectations, and decisions in one area increasingly affect everything else.This conversation with Michael Avant-Smith, from Business Modelling Applications, looks at how AI is being used to bring clarity to that complexity: linking data, testing options, and showing trade-offs in ways people can understand and act on. By supporting better planning, faster decisions, and continuous adjustment as conditions change, AI becomes a practical tool for building infrastructure that keeps up with the pace of change.AI is our Business.UKAI is the Trade Association for AI businesses across the UK. Join us, ukai.co

What does real sustainability look like when AI enters the room—loud, power-hungry, and ethically ambiguous?In this episode of the UKAI Women in AI Podcast, we’re joined by Alex Smith, CEO of Future Plus, to talk candidly about non-linear careers, leadership under pressure, and why sustainability must move from glossy reports into everyday business decisions.Alex shares her journey—from hospitality and professional sailing to building a guided SaaS platform that helps businesses embed sustainability across climate, social impact, governance, and economic resilience. Along the way, we explore:Why sustainability and AI are fundamentally governance problemsThe myth of “perfect” sustainability (and why progress matters more)AI’s impact on net-zero pledges, workforce trust, and biasLessons from working parents, single motherhood, and executive leadershipHow AI is being used to reduce food waste through projects like Bridge AI, in collaboration with Innovate UK, Google, and NestléThis is not sustainability as virtue-signalling. It’s sustainability as discipline: measured, managed, and embedded—especially as AI accelerates faster than our moral reflexes.📌 Key theme: Just because we can, should we?🔗 Learn more about Alex’s work: https://www.futureplus.co.uk🔔 Subscribe for more conversations on AI, governance, and impactAI is our Business.UKAI is the Trade Association for AI businesses across the UK. Join us, ukai.co

In this episode of the UKI Women in AI podcast, Sheridan (Founder & Co-CEO of Tech She Can) tells the story from “Well Rough” (Wellingborough, as lovingly rebranded by its own sign-vandals) to global consulting, to launching a charity that’s reached hundreds of thousands of children with tech-for-good education.You’ll hear:How an undiagnosed dyslexia and leaving school with few qualifications didn’t end the story—it started itThe early rebellion: campaigning at school so girls could do metalwork and welding (because stereotypes deserve to be mocked, not obeyed)Why curiosity and preparation beat “having a perfect plan” (spoiler: plans rarely survive contact with reality)Lessons from Accenture and PwC—and how Sheridan helped move the needle on women in tech inside a major UK firmThe research that exposed why many girls don’t choose tech (hint: it’s not “lack of ability”—it’s lack of invitation and visibility)Building Tech She Can through the pandemic, scaling resources, and focusing now on work experience, apprenticeships, and pathways—especially for young people without easy access to “who you know” networksLeadership habits that actually work: relentless note-taking, diverse teams, and staying coachable (even when your ego wants a throne)Sheridan also talks about the power of storytelling—personally and structurally—and shares how role models (from Wonder Woman to Lyra) can widen what young people believe is possible.If you care about AI, skills, education, and the pipeline into tech that isn’t quietly rigged for the already-privileged: this one’s for you.#WomenInAI #AI #TechForGood #DigitalSkills #Education #DiversityInTech #Leadership #Apprenticeships #Careers #UKTechAI is our Business.UKAI is the Trade Association for AI businesses across the UK. Join us, ukai.co

In this episode of the UKAI Women in AI Podcast, Zahra sits down with Lida Cepuch — a technologist-turned-governance heavyweight whose career has zig-zagged through derivatives trading floors, complex risk management, and the boardrooms of some of Europe’s most regulated financial institutions.Lida cuts through the usual platitudes and lays out the raw mechanics of building a career at the intersection of technology, finance, and governance, starting from her early days in computer science at the University of Waterloo (back when coding required punched cards) all the way to shaping AI strategy for a UK-regulated alternative investment manager.Across this conversation you’ll hear about:Surviving Black Monday (1987) and making decisions with imperfect informationRemote team leadership long before Zoom made it fashionableHow technological literacy became her most valuable long-term assetThe structural reasons girls fall out of STEM at age 11–12Why governance around AI is still a conceptual minefieldHow allyship, networks, and unvarnished mentorship shape a careerThe reality of navigating male-dominated rooms in the 80s and 90sRaising four children while handling high-volatility roles in financeHer current project Lectern, using AI to help families save for educationWhy society cannot afford a generation priced out of universityHow AI can support — rather than distort — education, decision-making, and equityLita also speaks frankly about personal challenges, and how resilience, clarity of thought, and a deep network of mentors carried her through chaotic inflection points — from 9/11 to market collapses.If you’re interested in:AI governance, female leadership in finance, long-term strategy, risk, education policy, or the hard practicalities of deploying AI responsibly, this episode is essential.Connect with Lita: linkedin.com/in/lidacepuchSubscribe to the UKAI Women in AI Podcast for more conversations with the women shaping the future of AI — not in theory, but in the bruising, high-stakes world where technology meets power.AI is our Business.UKAI is the Trade Association for AI businesses across the UK. Join us, ukai.co

How do you actually govern AI so you can use it at scale without blowing up your risk register?In this episode of the Business of AI podcast, Tim chats with Ray Eisel Porter (former Global Lead for Responsible AI at Accenture) and Dr Paul Donga (Head of Responsible AI & AI Strategy at NatWest) about their new book, Governing the Machine – a practical blueprint for AI governance in real organisations, not in theory slides.They unpack:What agentic AI really was in the 1990s – and why today’s “agents” are nowhere near the autonomous rational planners people are hyping.How to build AI governance as an enabler, not a tick-box brake on innovation.Why generative AI widens and deepens the risk landscape, especially in financial services.The emerging role of the Chief AI Officer and where responsible AI, ethics boards and risk teams fit in.How to make governance relevant to actual workers, not just a PDF policy nobody reads.Why the UK has a genuine opportunity to lead globally on responsible AI, given its regulators, legal culture, and new AI Safety Institute.In this conversation, we cover:Ray’s journey from leading global responsible AI at Accenture to co-authoring Governing the MachinePaul’s background in agentic AI research in the 1990s and his move into banking and AI ethicsThe mindset shift: governance as a way to sleep at night and unlock AI valuePractical steps to get started:Identifying checkpoints where “does this include AI?” gets askedUsing risk triage to decide when heavier governance is neededEmbedding questions through the AI lifecycle, not as a final checklistWhy FOMO about agentic AI is misplaced – and what today’s “agents” really do (mostly advanced search and orchestration, not deep planning)How to keep governance flexible as technology and regulation move, including using standards beneath policiesThe human side: training, culture, new roles (AI ethicists, data curators, responsible AI leads), and using AI to augment work rather than replace itThe UK’s regulatory positioning vs the EU AI Act and the US – and why a pro-innovation, guidance-driven approach might actually workIf you’re a business leader, risk professional, data/AI lead, or policymaker wondering where to start with AI governance – or whether you really need a Chief AI Officer – this episode will give you a concrete framework and a reality check on the current hype.📖 The book: Governing the Machine – available now from major booksellers.🎙️ Podcast: Business of AI Podcast – subscribe for new episodes.👉 Watch / Listen and let us know in the comments:Do you think your organisation is ready for agentic AI?Should the UK aim to lead the world on responsible AI – and is it doing enough?AI is our Business.UKAI is the Trade Association for AI businesses across the UK. Join us, ukai.co

AI agents can become “work amplifiers” for non-profits and membership organisations IF you start with the problem, not the solution. In this in-person episode, Alex Skinner (CEO & Co-founder of Pixl8) explains how AI can help lean teams do more with less: automating document-heavy workflows, triaging submissions, and turning messy archives into searchable knowledge.We dig into:* Why many AI projects fail by starting with a solution instead of a clear objective,* Alex’s “recipes” approach: matching the right model/tool to the right workflow,* How to pilot safely, measure success, and scale from proof-of-concept to production,* The new reality of testing: using AI to test AI in a probabilistic world,* Practical risk controls: human-in-the-loop, auditing, least access, and separating duties,* Sensitive data strategies: orchestrators, data security, open-source models, and private deployments,* What Alex is most excited about for 2026: 'Lane Assist', moving beyond chat into proactive, workflow-based AI.AI is our Business.UKAI is the Trade Association for AI businesses across the UK. Join us, ukai.co

Ramyani shares her 25-year journey from being the only woman in engineering classes to leading digital, analytics, and AI across Northern Europe, while championing diversity and lifting other women as she climbed. She opens up about a defining early-career moment: being told to tone down her bold colours and emotions and why choosing authenticity became a turning point. Ramyani makes the case that AI is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for women because it rewards problem-solving, leadership, and collaboration, not just coding. Expect practical advice (passion, resilience, learning through failure), a look at major AI transformation programs she’s leading in banking and heavy industry, and a powerful call to use women’s “superpower” alongside technology to create lasting business and societal impact.Ramyani Basu is a senior partner at Kearney.AI is our Business.UKAI is the Trade Association for AI businesses across the UK. Join us, ukai.co

Bosch on Skills, Trust, and the Future of Work. What does real adoption actually look like inside a global industrial giant? In this episode, Stefan Hoffmann, President of Bosch for Northern and Eastern Europe, cuts through the noise to explain how AI is already transforming manufacturing, HR, energy, and R&D. From training 65,000 employees and building trust in AI tools, to green energy, hydrogen, and automated driving, this fascinating conversation explores how businesses can use AI to boost productivity, stay competitive, and prepare people, not replace them, for the future of work.AI is our Business.UKAI is the Trade Association for AI businesses across the UK. Join us, ukai.co

In this episode of UKAI’s The Business of AI Podcast: Women in AI special, Zahra Shah, Chair of UKAI’s Women in AI Working Group, speaks with Sharon Moore MBE, CTO for Public Sector and Technology at IBM.Sharon shares her career journey into technology, from early exposure to computer-aided design to senior leadership roles, and reflects on the moments that shaped her path. The conversation explores career challenges, learning new industries quickly, and the difference that mentors, allies, and sponsors can make, particularly for women navigating large organisations.A practical and encouraging discussion on leadership, confidence, and building a sustainable career in AI and technology.AI is our Business.UKAI is the Trade Association for AI businesses across the UK. Join us, ukai.co

In this episode of the Business of AI podcast, we’re joined by Ben Warner, co-founder of Electric Twin, a company creating cutting-edge synthetic populations to help organisations understand and predict human behaviour at unprecedented speed. Ben shares his journey from academic physicist at UCL, to applied AI leader at Faculty, to chief adviser in Number 10 during the Covid-19 crisis. That experience revealed a fundamental gap in our ability to model real-world behaviour, inspiring Electric Twin’s mission: to give decision-makers rapid, accurate insights that once required weeks of surveys and complex research.Ben breaks down how Electric Twin builds “digital audiences” using advanced AI models, data science and social science, enabling companies to test ideas, messages and products in seconds rather than months. He also discusses powerful applications across marketing, product development, public policy and even predicting behavioural responses in areas like health or political engagement. With examples ranging from media companies to telecoms firms, Ben shows how synthetic audiences can accelerate decision-making and reduce reliance on slow, expensive traditional research. The conversation also explores the UK’s broader AI opportunity, the future of behavioural modelling, and how tools like Electric Twin could help shape smarter, evidence-driven policy.#AI #ArtificialIntelligence #BusinessOfAI #ElectricTwin #SyntheticData #BehavioralScience #DataScience #AIMarketing #CustomerInsights #DigitalTwin #ProductInnovation #PublicPolicy #FutureOfAI #TechLeadership #UKTech #AIEthics #AIForecasting #InnovationLeadership #MarketingTechAI is our Business.UKAI is the Trade Association for AI businesses across the UK. Join us, ukai.co