Transformation Strategy
Discussion hosts:
Tina Churcher - Chief Delivery Officer (Digital and Data), DVSA
Ruqaiya Isa - Deputy Director Governance, Assurance & Partnerships, Department for Education
This session explores how public sector leaders are moving beyond legacy systems to build joined-up, citizen-first services.
- Moving beyond legacy systems to build joined-up, citizen-first services that align platforms, data and people around shared outcomes.
- What does a credible transformation strategy actually look like at departmental level?
-The programme leadership and cross cutting collaboration needed to deliver at pace and scale.
In partnership with:
Digital Workplace
Retaining talent, closing skills gaps and fostering innovation depends as much on internal tools and culture as it does on strategy.
- Building platforms, products and services that create a simple, joined-up and personalised experience for civil servants across departments
- Are your internal tools and working practices keeping pace with what your departments need to deliver?
- What it takes to put people genuinely at the centre of your department's digital transformation
Operational Transformation
Discussion hosts:
Lara Pullen - Innovation Programme Delivery Manager, HM Treasury
With one in four government digital systems outdated and pressure to deliver more with less, the case for transforming operations is no longer a matter of debate.
- How modern digital infrastructure and tools are being embedded across departments to streamline processes, reduce complexity, and enhance service delivery.
- What does it take to embed operational transformation at scale ?
- Building the operational foundations that make government faster, more efficient and citizen focused.
Modernising Legacy
Discussion hosts:
Richard Baines - Deputy Director, Digital Delivery, DEFRA
Legacy technology remains the single biggest barrier to government transformation, with departments spending up to 50% of their technology budgets simply keeping old platforms running.
- The challenge of retiring legacy infrastructure with confidence while maintaining continuity of service delivery
- Are outdated systems consuming your budget and blocking your transformation ambitions?
- What leaders are doing to unlock the productivity gains needed to deliver a modern, resilient department
In partnership with:
Accelerating legacy modernisation using AI
Discussion host:
Rizwana Parveen - Programme Director at Department for Work and Pensions
Legacy systems remain one of the biggest sources of cost, risk, and constraint across government, with modernisation often seen as too complex to deliver at scale.
Emerging AI capabilities are starting to change that, making legacy migration faster, more feasible, and opening up transformation opportunities that were previously out of reach.
- How can AI reduce the cost and complexity of modernising legacy systems at scale?
- What tools, practices, and delivery patterns are proving effective in government today?
- How are teams moving towards more repeatable and increasingly self-service approaches to modernisation?
In partnership with:
Government AI Efficiency
Discussion host:
Andy Wilson - Government Services Lead, Ordnance Survey
Efficiency in government is no longer just about cutting costs, it is about redesigning how the state delivers.
- Growing pressure to do more with less is pushing departments beyond incremental savings towards lasting, structural change
- How do you build the governance, processes and culture needed to unlock genuine productivity gains?
- What it takes to lead an efficient, future-ready department in an era of rising demand and constrained resources
In partnership with:
AI Use Cases
Discussion hosts:
Sumitra Varma - Deputy Director, Probations Data, Ministry of Justice
Jeremy Gould - Deputy Director AI Delivery, GDS
The question for senior leaders is no longer whether to use AI, it is where to deploy it, how to scale it and how to ensure it delivers.
- With the AI Opportunities Action Plan in full flow and AI Exemplars already live across departments, practical real-world applications are moving beyond the experimental
- What can you learn from use cases across healthcare, welfare and policy delivery to accelerate responsible AI adoption in your own department?
- How to cut through the hype and identify the opportunities most likely to deliver in your context
In partnership with:
AI Strategy
Discussion hosts:
Simon Price - Director for AI, HMRC
Euan Neill - Head of Innovation, ACE, Home Office
Ambition is not the problem, execution is.
-The AI Opportunities Action Plan set a bold vision, but translating national strategy into departmental reality remains the defining challenge for senior leaders
- How do you align investments, sequence adoption and build the governance needed to make AI a trusted, everyday tool?
- What a credible departmental AI strategy looks like and how to lead it with confidence
In partnership with:
AI Governance
Discussion hosts:
Nico Celaj - Head of Strategic Customer Engagement, ACE, Home Office
Ade Bamigboye, Chief Technology Officer, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
Responsible AI deployment across government depends on governance frameworks that are robust in practice, not just in principle.
- Developing and implementing the structures needed to oversee AI systems with confidence, from policy to procurement to deployment
- How do you move from theory to practice and build frameworks that genuinely underpin public trust in government's use of AI?
- What effective AI governance looks like at departmental level and how to lead it without stifling innovation
Building In-House Capability
Discussion hosts:
Lee Dunn - Head of Profession for Digital and Data, Head of the Scottish Digital Academy, Scottish Government
Dr James Cook OBE - Director People Transformation, Ministry of Defence
Sustainable AI adoption across government depends not on procuring the right tools, but on building the right people, skills and structures to use them effectively.
- The risk of over-reliance on external expertise and what it means for departments that have yet to develop the internal capability to own, iterate and scale their AI investments
- How do you build the digital, data and AI skills needed to reduce dependency and drive transformation from within?
- What senior leaders are doing to develop the in-house capability that makes lasting, self-sufficient public sector innovation possible
In partnership with:
Agentic AI
Discussion hosts:
Molly Adamat - Head of Data Management | Data Hub | Corporate Centre Group, HM Treasury
Chris Page - AI Research Engineer, DSIT
AI is no longer just analysing data - it’s beginning to act on it. From automating casework and triaging public health data to managing dynamic infrastructure systems, agentic AI promises faster, more responsive public services.
But with greater autonomy comes greater responsibility - and risk. What does it mean to entrust decision-making to AI in a public sector context?
How can we ensure transparency, accountability, cybersecurity and trust in systems that will increasingly act on our behalf?
In partnership with:
Operationalising AI
Discussion hosts:
Simon Short, Chief Data Officer, Homes England
Operationalising and embedding AI into the fibre of public sector organisations has endless possibilities to enhance service delivery.
Alongside having robust governance frameworks, AI adoption will allow cross-government departments to create smarter, data-driven policies to become more adaptive, agile and resilient.
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Building Trustworthy AI
Discussion hosts:
Dr Nayyab Naqvi - Head of Technology for AI Enablement, GDS
Ruth Kelly - Chief Analyst, National Audit Office
Public confidence in government's use of AI cannot be assumed, it must be earned through systems that are transparent, explainable and consistently accountable.
- The growing expectation that AI deployed in public services meets a higher standard of fairness, transparency and explainability than its private sector counterparts
- How do you build and maintain public trust in AI systems that are making consequential decisions on behalf of citizens?
- What senior leaders are doing to embed trustworthiness into AI from design through to deployment and sustain it over time.
In partnership with:
Cross-Government Functions
Discussion hosts:
Lucia Webster - Deputy Director Government Grants Management Function/ Government Commercial and Grants, Cabinet Office
Enhancing cooperation within and between different levels of government.
- The practical barriers to standardising and integrating functions across departments.
- How are departments making cross-cutting collaboration work in practice, not just in principle?
- How integrating technology, standardising processes and centralising management can build a more efficient, agile and collaborative department
Generative AI
Discussion hosts:
Shabeih Bukhari - AI Product and Delivery Manager (NISTA)
Richard Patterson - Chief Data and AI Officer, Bureau Of The Comptroller And Global Financial Services, US State Department
From automating routine tasks to making sense of vast datasets for policy, the possibilities of Generative AI across government are colossal, but knowing where to start is the defining challenge.
- Do you pursue the quick wins that build momentum and demonstrate value, or invest in the systemic transformation that delivers at scale?
- How do you sequence your GenAI ambitions in a way that is credible, responsible and builds confidence across your organisation?
- What senior leaders are doing to move from experimentation to meaningful, lasting deployment
AI Sovereignty
Discussion hosts:
Dr Ravinder Singh - Head of Digital and Systems, Government Commercial Function
As government deepens its reliance on AI, a critical question emerges: who controls the technology underpinning our public services?
- From data sovereignty and supply chain dependencies to geopolitical risk, AI sovereignty is fast becoming a strategic leadership concern
- How do you reduce exposure to foreign-owned infrastructure without slowing the pace of responsible AI adoption?
- What it means in practice to build a resilient, independently capable AI ecosystem at departmental level.