Fixing the foundation: Why investing in government commercial teams is the key to unlocking SME innovation

As the newly appointed Chair of the Security and Public Safety SME Forum, I’ve been thinking a lot about loyalty and ambition.

There is a growing sentiment amongst analysts and commentators that major defence contractors — the "Primes" — may increasingly focus on European defence contracts if the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not provide sufficient long-term spending commitments.
For these global giants, the UK is just one market among many. If the conditions aren't right, they can look elsewhere.

Whereas SMEs are rooted in the UK. We are the domestic engine of this country and form an essential part of the nation’s innovation capability.

Yet, over time, reductions in departmental commercial capacity have led to an unintended reliance on large integrators to act as intermediaries and manage the supply chain.

The result? For many Primes, SME engagement can become a "tick box" exercise. This makes it harder to innovate, is costlier, and the agile, dual-use technology we desperately need for national security gets lost in the bureaucracy.

If we want to make the UK the safest and best place to live and work, we need a fundamental shift. We need to rebuild the government's own commercial capability to engage with SMEs directly.

The case for direct engagement: The 'Commercial X' model

We don't need to invent a new solution from scratch; we just need to look at what is already working.

The MOD's Commercial X initiative, led by Dina Kakaras, is a shining example of how empowering government commercial teams can transform the landscape. They haven't just paid lip service to SMEs; they have co-created a new environment that actually works for them.

By investing in their own commercial intelligence, Commercial X has delivered tangible changes that lower the barriers to entry:

These aren't just administrative tweaks. They are structural changes that help SMEs bridge the "valley of death"— the notorious gap between a successful proof of concept and a scalable contract.

This is what happens when you have an empowered commercial team that understands the market. If we want to drive productivity and innovation, we need similar models across the wider public sector.

A call to SMEs: Ambition and dual-use

However, the responsibility does not lie with government alone. As SMEs, we must also step up.

One of my key objectives as Chair is to encourage UK SMEs to be more ambitious. The UK is home to world-class universities and brilliant engineers. Yet, too often, I see a lack of drive to turn that academic expertise into commercial success. We are great at research but we often stumble at scale-up.
I want to challenge our SME community to focus on dual-use technology. The boundaries between national security and civil society are blurring. Technologies developed for enterprise (data analysis, AI, logistics) often have profound applications for national safety.

We need to look at the success of initiatives like the Neutral Vendor Framework for Innovation (NVFi). This government-wide initiative is already helping departments like the Home Office and Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office access innovative technology from micro-SMEs in areas like robotics and AI.

My personal journey

My passion for this mission is personal. I was born in Sri Lanka during a time of conflict. I saw firsthand how quickly a society can fracture when safety and stability are lost — which is why Zaizi's mission is to make the UK the safest place to live and work.

When I came to the UK and studied at Imperial College, I fell in love with this country. I benefited from the open-source movement, which taught me that collaboration and sharing knowledge lead to better outcomes than working in silos.

I founded Zaizi with a belief in "realising potential"— for our staff, our customers, and our country. I believe that technology is not just about efficiency; it is about societal good.

The way forward

We are at a crossroads. The government has set out ambitious efficiency plans, with a clear message to digitise, automate, and embrace AI. But as I have argued before, AI cannot deliver value on top of disconnected, outdated systems. We must "fix the foundations".

We cannot rely solely on Primes to nurture the next generation of British innovation. We need government commercial teams that are well-resourced and empowered to take calculated risks with SMEs.

To my colleagues in government: Invest in your commercial teams. Give your people the mandate to engage directly.

To my fellow SMEs: Be ambitious. Your work matters. The technology you build today could secure the UK’s future tomorrow.

Let’s work together to make the UK not just a place where we do business, but the safest and best place to live and work.

Watch the recent government panel, featuring the National Crime Agency, DSIT’s Incubator for Artificial Intelligence, and Zaizi, discussing how homegrown companies are helping departments deploy AI and build specialist capabilities.

National Security Programme activities

techUK’s National Security programme leads the debate on emerging technologies which present opportunities to strengthen UK national security. Through a variety of market engagement and policy activities we assess the capability of these technologies against various national security threats. Visit the programme page here

HMGCC Co-Creation is a partnership with DSTL (Defence Science and Technology Laboratory), created to deliver a new, bold and innovative way of working with the wider UK science and technology community. We bring together the best in class across industry, academia and Government, to work collaboratively on National Security Engineering challenges and accelerate innovation. Co-Creation is the front door to the HMGCC technology eco-system.

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