We love digital tools.
We just don’t trust them.
Valeria Adani, partner at Projects by IF, sums up one of technology’s most vexing paradoxes in 10 words.
This is one of her favorite quotes, and it gets to the heart of our relationship with artificial intelligence as it enters uncharted territory and everyone – users, businesses and regulators – needs to keep up.
This regulatory delay has consequences.
If AI remains untrustworthy due to inconsistent rules, adoption will stall.
Companies are facing uncomfortable questions about how to source and deploy technology when the rulebook is still in draft form.
Regulators face another challenge. How do you supervise something that reinvents itself every month?
On March 10, 2026, the Digital Regulatory Cooperation Forum (DRCF) held its second Responsible AI Forum in London. Regulators, technology companies, academics, and civil society representatives came together to address these issues. Below are practical lessons for senior leadership teams and general counsel seeking to navigate this changing landscape.
What is DRCF?
The DRCF was launched in 2020 as a voluntary forum to ensure a higher level of cooperation between regulators, given the unique challenges posed by the regulation of online platforms. It brings together the UK’s four regulators with responsibility for digital oversight. Financial Conduct Authority. the Information Commissioner’s Office; and Ofcom.
Important points
Below are key takeaways from the day for the senior leadership team and general counsel.
Regulations are not what they used to be
Keynote speaker Kenneth Cukier, a journalist at The Economist and co-author of Big Data, argued that we need to “rethink our responsibilities.” Should regulators move from “do no harm” (a standard he believes is “too simple” for AI) to a positive duty of care?
He acknowledges that regulation will be difficult, but AI requires a fundamental change in the way we think.
The impact on businesses is clear. Be prepared to proactively engage with regulators, perhaps through sandbox initiatives, and restructure your business model if necessary.
This event confirmed the broader changes we observed. Many regulators are becoming far more focused on results than on technical compliance with detailed rules. And while companies wait for prescriptive guidance, standards are filling the gap. Sheldon Mills is currently carry out discussions about As for how AI reshapes retail financial services, he suggested that “voluntary standards will likely also play a role.”
Given the pace of AI development, companies should expect this approach to continue and should prepare for any form of regulation to scrutinize broader societal harm. It’s wise to join those big conversations now.
Responsible AI: A quick reminder
The UK has not created a single AI regulator. Instead, it is asking existing bodies (such as the FCA, Ofcom and the ICO) to monitor AI within their own patches.
Five principles are currently central to this approach:
- Safety, security and robustness.
- Transparency and explainability.
- Fairness.
- Accountability and Governance. and
- Appeals and Remedies.
Each regulatory authority will interpret the principles for its own authority. The government’s bet? Enabling AI to thrive while upholding human rights, democratic norms, and the rule of law.
The hope is that flexibility will foster growth without strangling new technologies with bureaucracy.
The danger is that the problem slips through the cracks between regulators. Speaking at the event, Dame Melanie Dawes, CEO of Ofcom and chair of the DRCF, acknowledged this, saying the regulator wanted to “strengthen our muscles to work together”.
Whether this arrangement should ultimately have a legal basis remains an open question. At this time, companies need to be aware that coordination among regulators is still poor and gaps may arise as each agency applies the framework differently.
get the timing right
What should companies do?
First, don’t wait. If you want to use AI in your business but are waiting for a clearer or more established regulatory regime for AI to be established in the UK, don’t wait. You’ll probably end up waiting longer than you expected. And you might just miss the proverbial boat.
But there’s no need to rush. A typical LinkedIn meme with a photo of a CEO, COO, CTO, or other executive holding a placard looks like this: “What do we want?” “Aye!” “Why do we want it?” “We don’t know!” “When do you want it?” “Now!” For this group, there is no better strategy than FOMO (fear of missing out).
The key for business is finding the balance between not moving too fast and not moving too fast. Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. However, please don’t just “try your best” without thinking. The sweet spot is a careful and strategic approach.
Building trust
If you had a word cloud for the day, “trust” would pop up the most. Trust is the glue that holds this together. Without trust, AI simply collects junk on an expensive shelf.
Lewis Silkin’s Future @ Work 2026 report, published in January 2026, notes that cultural resistance (such as fear of job loss and distrust of AI artifacts) remains a key barrier to adoption.
Throughout the day, speakers confirmed this dynamic. The amount of human oversight required for AI products varies on a case-by-case basis, but getting the balance right is essential to building trust.
leadership
Tim Gordon, Partner at Best Practice AI, reminded the audience that AI is “at the heart of every business model” and that AI is not just something that needs to be discussed at, say, a quarterly meeting. It is moving from a compliance issue to a “general management issue.”
As Adani says, leaders will need to ask difficult questions such as “Is AI behaving as it should?” Staying on top of AI is the responsibility of everyone within the business, not just the IT team.
what happens next
It was a busy day and I learned a lot. In our next article, we’ll explore the emerging challenges of agent AI and what regulators are watching most closely.
We look forward to hearing from you.
What concerns you most about AI?
What excites you?
Please contact the team.
