Talking 5 with Local Public Services member Julia Brennan
Each month, techUK's Associate Director for Local Public Services, Georgina Maratheftis, interviews a member active in the local government space about their vision for the future of local public services and where digital can make a real difference to people and society. This month we talk to Julia Brennan, Director of Local Government, Housing and Communities at Transform, about using AI and data grounded in people, trust and community outcomes.
Welcome Julia. Firstly, tell me more about you, your career and how you got to this position today?
My route into local government transformation has been anything but traditional. I originally studied Russian before living and working in both Moscow and Kyiv with the British Embassies. It gave me an early understanding of politics, systems and the importance of relationships and place. I then moved into a range of commercial and development roles focused on building revenue and partnerships in emerging markets before eventually returning to the UK public sector space and eventually consulting.
Today, at Transform, I work with councils and public sector organisations across local government, housing and communities, helping them rethink transformation, service design and the future role of local public services. Increasingly, for local government that means helping organisations navigate AI, devolution and reorganisation in a way that remains grounded in people, trust and community outcomes rather than technology alone.
The golden thread throughout, is a fascination with how organisations adapt to complexity and how people interact with systems and culture.
What is the greatest opportunity for local government when it comes to digital?
Using digital, data and AI to fundamentally rethink how councils understand and support communities, rather than simply digitising existing processes.
Councils sit closest to the realities of people’s lives, which puts them in a unique position to design services around place, relationships and lived experience. The opportunity now is to use technology to create more intelligent and connected local systems, where services work together more effectively, needs are identified earlier and frontline staff are freed up to focus on human interaction rather than administration.
But for me, the real opportunity goes beyond technology itself. Successful transformation depends on trust, culture and leadership just as much as digital capability. AI should help councils become more preventative, responsive and insight-driven, but it must remain transparent, explainable and grounded in real community outcomes.
There’s also a huge opportunity for greater collaboration across local government, with councils sharing learning, approaches and capability rather than solving the same problems in isolation. The organisations that will create the most value will be those that combine strong data foundations with participation, trust and a clear focus on outcomes for residents and places.
What is your vision for the future of local public services and places?
I see a future where local public services are far more integrated and community-powered, with councils acting not just as service providers, but as stewards of place.
The current period of devolution and local government reorganisation creates a once-in-a-generation opportunity to rethink how councils are designed and how they connect with communities. The risk is that we simply create larger organisations with the same operating models. The opportunity is to redesign services around the lived realities of communities.
Technology and AI will play an important role in enabling this future. Used well, it can help councils better understand local need, improve coordination across services, support earlier intervention and strengthen responsiveness to communities.
My hope is that we move towards local systems that feel more joined-up, more human and more preventative, where services are shaped with communities rather than simply delivered to them. Ultimately, the councils that succeed will be those that combine technology, participation and trust most effectively around the places people call home.
