Digital government is evolving quickly, and events like DigiGov Expo provide space for the public sector to come together, share ideas and explore what the future could look like. This September, the herd will be at ExCeL London for the UK’s largest public sector technology event, joining colleagues from across government and industry to discuss opportunities and challenges in digital transformation.

Our session, Upskill, Uplift, Empower: Building AI Capability in Government at Scale, will share lessons from a programme that helped hundreds of public servants build confidence with AI. It showed that capability is not about producing experts, but about creating the conditions for people to use and question new technology responsibly.

The challenge

AI is rising quickly up the public sector agenda, but confidence and understanding have not always kept pace. Misconceptions still act as barriers. Some believe you need to be technical to use AI. Others see it only as a shortcut to efficiency, without fully weighing the issues of fairness, bias or trust.

These gaps in skills and understanding sit alongside a wider question of responsibility. In government it is never enough to ask what AI can do. The harder question is what it should do. Public services carry a duty of transparency, fairness and accountability. Any technology that shapes decisions about people’s lives has to be held to the same standards.

The approach

The programme we delivered took place in phases, each designed to build capability in a different way.

The first stage, AI Week, was a week of hands-on learning for hundreds of participants. It covered AI fundamentals, practical examples and the ethical considerations that shape responsible adoption. The aim was not to create data scientists, but to remove the mystery and show how AI can sit within existing ways of working.

Next came Policy Impact Workshops, which gave policy teams the chance to explore how AI might influence live areas of work. By working with current priorities, teams could see where the technology could support strategy and delivery.

Building on AI Week and the Policy Impact Workshops, the next phase will be Design in a Day. This will use rapid prototyping to give teams the chance to explore how AI might shape future services or policies. It is planned as part of the ongoing programme and will focus on encouraging experimentation and showing how ideas can start to be translated into practice.

These sessions were not about producing complete solutions, but about encouraging experimentation and showing how ideas can be translated into practices.

Breaking down barriers

A vital part of the work was our AI 101 sessions. These explained the basics in clear language: what AI is, what it is not, how it works and how it links with other tools. For many participants this was the step that helped them move beyond buzzwords and uncertainty.

By making the fundamentals accessible, these sessions helped shift the focus from fear of the unknown to informed, critical thinking. That shift is essential in government, where innovation must always sit alongside a duty of care.

Responsibility at the centre

Responsibility ran through every stage of the programme. Efficiency and innovation only have real value when they are balanced with fairness and trust. We explored issues of bias in data, the impact on jobs and the environmental cost of large-scale computing.

The principle was clear. Responsible AI cannot be bolted on at the end. It has to be part of the process from the start. For public servants, this means asking difficult questions and having the confidence to challenge assumptions.

What we learned

Some of the most valuable lessons from the programme include:

  • Confidence comes before code. People need to understand the basics to apply them responsibly.
  • Ethics should shape decisions from the start, not as an afterthought.
  • Capability grows when learning is hands-on and phased, rather than only theoretical.

The work reinforced that capability is built through curiosity, clarity and collaboration. When people feel able to explore technology without fear, they are better placed to apply it in ways that serve the public.

Keeping trust at the centre

AI will continue to evolve, and so will the way government uses it. What will not change is the importance of public trust. When technology is used in services that affect people’s lives, it carries a responsibility that goes beyond efficiency. It has to work for everyone.

For us, this project underlined why capability matters as much as technology. Building AI capability at scale is not about producing experts. It is about supporting a workforce that keeps innovation human first, makes the most of partnerships and ensures that services remain fair, transparent and accountable.

We will be exploring these lessons in more detail at DigiGov Expo. If you are attending, we would love for you to join the conversation.

You can also read more about what is happening across the event here.