Europe 2026
Rewiring the State — Eoin Mulgrew, No. 10 (Downing Street)
Overview
This talk outlines an initiative by the No. 10 data science team to radically scale AI engineering and development capabilities within the UK government. The core thesis is that by establishing small, agile, and well-resourced "insurgent units" operating with high political backing and autonomy, the government can overcome traditional bureaucratic hurdles to drive AI adoption and address public service delivery crises. This approach aims to attract top technical talent by offering challenging work and competitive compensation, thereby accelerating innovation and improving efficiency across government functions.
Who should watch
- AI engineers and builders
- Product Managers and technical leaders
- Government officials and public sector innovators
- Those interested in applying AI to solve complex societal problems
- Individuals seeking to understand how to foster technical talent within large, traditional organizations
Key takeaways
- The UK government faces significant public service delivery challenges, including long NHS waiting lists and court backlogs, exacerbated by a public sector productivity crisis.
- Traditional government structures often hinder the recruitment and retention of high-performing technical talent due to bureaucracy, slow processes, and uncompetitive pay.
- The No. 10 data science team is piloting an "insurgent unit" model, characterized by high political backing, market-rate pay, recruitment autonomy, and a focus on external talent.
- This model allows for rapid prototyping and deployment of AI solutions, addressing both low-hanging fruit like workflow automation and complex issues such as analyzing the statute book or digitizing planning applications.
- Examples of implemented solutions include policy simulation tools, a cost-saving analysis of the UK statute book using AI, and a delivery red teaming tool for manifesto commitments.
- The initiative supports external bodies like the AI Safety Institute and has led to the creation of spin-out teams like the Incubator for AI and Just AI, which deploy engineers into critical sectors like criminal justice.
- The program aims to attract "missionaries, not mercenaries," emphasizing the appeal of working on impactful national challenges over solely financial incentives.
- The long-term goal is to shift these agile practices from a "hack" to overcome the system into the norm (BAU) across government, potentially by targeting horizontal use cases applicable across many public sector roles.
Notable quotes
*What gets measured gets improved, so we'll do another one at the end.*
*The decisions that go across a minister's desk are like some of the most important things you could possibly work on.*
*We recruit exclusively outsiders. One of the best ways that I can have impact is by getting some people the likes of this conference into government.*
Unofficial community note. Prefer the recording for nuance.