The UK Government continues to work with the private sector on its latest plans to introduce leading AI experts into public service delivery, following the recent recruitment of senior business leaders to transform frontline services.
Backed by a $1 million investment from Meta and delivered through the Alan Turing Institute, a new group of AI fellows will spend the next year collaborating within government to develop open source tools aimed at modernizing critical public systems. Use cases include transportation infrastructure, public safety, and national security.
The announcement follows recent moves to embed private sector leadership in service reform, including the creation of CustomerFirst within the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). The unit, led by former Monzo executive Tristan Thomas and co-chaired by Octopus Energy CEO Greg Jackson, is focused on eliminating long wait times, repetitive form-filling and outdated processes across public services.
Rewiring Whitehall with technology partnerships
In the transportation sector, fellows will develop AI models that analyze images and video to help councils more effectively prioritize repairs and maintenance. In the national security and defense sector, experts design AI systems that can operate offline or within secure networks, enabling sensitive decision-making while protecting sensitive data.
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Alongside the fellowship program, the government announced a new partnership with Anthropic to develop and pilot AI assistants for public services. The first use case will focus on job seekers, with optional AI tools providing tailored career advice and support to help people find employment. The pilot is set to begin later this year as part of broader plans to deploy AI agents across national government services.
Together, these initiatives form part of a broader strategy to ‘rewire Whitehall’ through technology, building on the AI Opportunities Action Plan and Digital Transformation Roadmap published in January 2025. This approach reflects the government’s growing desire to work more closely with private technology companies and research institutions to deliver faster, safer and more efficient services.
Rapidly track public service transformation
Ian Murray, Minister for Data and Modern Digital Government, said the new AI researchers would play a vital role in “rewiring” systems across health, police and transport, ensuring public benefit from emerging technologies. Meta described the program as a way to “fast-track the transformation of public services” by putting AI expertise at the heart of government, and Anthropic framed the partnership as a model for safely deploying frontier AI for the public good.
This Fellowship cohort includes some of the UK’s leading researchers and practitioners, including Dr Armin Mustafa (University of Surrey), Dr Angus Williams (Alan Turing Institute), Dr Xiang Luo (King’s College London) and Dr Frank Sobochenski (University of York), who bring expertise in computer vision, machine learning, robotics and trusted AI to government work.
