techUK’s 2026 Tech Policy Conference: Event Round-up

The discussion moves from the immediate deployment of self-driving vehicles to the future of integrated, electric transport and the essential role of institutional trust. 

Sponsored by Uber. Chaired by Sue Daley OBE, Director for Technology and Innovation at techUK, this panel brought together:  

• Dr Siddartha Khastgir - Head of Safe Autonomy, Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) 
• Claire Wren – Director for Future of Transport Systems, The Department for Transport 
• Dr Sarah Gates - Director of Corporate Affairs, Wayve 
• Ed Davison - Senior Public Policy Manager, Uber UK 

The session explored the delicate balance of creating a regulatory landscape that protects the public while actively fostering a thriving environment for transport innovation. With 2026 marked as a milestone year for the arrival of autonomous taxis in London, the panel agreed that the UK’s progress is a testament to how early government engagement can successfully de-risk industry investment. Sue Daley OBE chaired the discussion, which moved between the immediate deployment of autonomous vehicles (AVs) and the broader future of integrated, sustainable transport. 

Dr Sarah Gates highlighted that the looming launch of AVs in the capital is the direct result of years of collaborative regulatory groundwork, noting that modern frameworks are now flexible enough to support diverse business models without compromising safety. This sentiment was echoed by Claire Wren, who clarified that the UK’s success stems not from "light touch" regulation, but from providing the industry with absolute clarity. She emphasised the effectiveness of the UK’s pilot-based approach, which allows for the testing of innovative technologies in a controlled yet ambitious manner. 

The conversation also turned to the critical role of public and institutional trust. Dr Siddartha Khastgir urged a focus on getting deployment right the first time to avoid damaging public confidence, praising the UK’s commitment to an evidence-based, scientific approach to policymaking. He suggested that maintaining trust in the institutions overseeing these shifts is as vital as the technology itself, while also noting that the benefits of self-driving solutions must extend to cities outside of London where transport challenges are often more acute. 

Ed Davison provided an industry perspective on the transition toward a more integrated and electric future, noting that many consumers' first experience with electric power often comes through shared transport. He credited the government’s extensive use of working groups for building a robust regulatory environment and stressed that local consent would remain a cornerstone of successful deployment.  

Looking further ahead, the panel touched on the potential for all-electric air taxis and the significant accessibility benefits for elderly and non-driving populations, framing the current regulatory successes as a blueprint for the next generation of UK technology. 

Zia Yusuf presents a vision where UK economic growth is inseparable from energy and compute sovereignty, arguing that AI superiority is now a decisive factor in national security.

Yusuf opened the session by framing the current era as one of "enormous opportunity and peril," where the UK’s future depends on leaders who move beyond platitudes to understand the mechanics of technological power. He noted that while Britain is a small country with an "enormous population" following recent significant immigration, it retains a unique advantage with three of the world’s top universities. He argued that while the UK possesses a higher abundance of AI talent per capita than almost anywhere else, the nation is currently underperforming and failing to capitalise on its "amazing brand." He dismissed the necessity of replicating Silicon Valley, suggesting instead that the UK simply needs to create a more competitive environment than the EU—a target he described as a "low bar." 

The conversation focused heavily on the existential link between energy costs and technological leadership. Yusuf contended that "political sovereignty is inextricably linked to compute sovereignty," which in turn relies on "energy sovereignty." He was sharply critical of current policy directions, noting that while figures like Ed Miliband may view declining energy consumption as a success, global competitors like China are growing theirs at an enormous rate. He warned that if the UK continues its current trajectory without sufficient GPU clusters and energy capacity, it risks becoming a "vassal state to the CCP." Under a Reform UK government, he stated that energy creation would grow dramatically, moving away from the "Net Zero movement" which he claimed encourages the UK to "economically disarm." He highlighted the inefficiency of the current Grid, noting that taxpayers are often paying for energy to be "switched off." 

A significant portion of the discussion was dedicated to the UK’s nuclear potential. Yusuf positioned Nigel Farage as a uniquely "pro-nuclear" leader and championed Rolls-Royce as a national icon with the potential to become the "first trillion-dollar company." He criticised the Conservative government for "dallying" with budgets and allowing Chinese competition to hamper the British Small Modular Reactor (SMR) programme, arguing that Reform UK would instead provide such firms with asymmetric market access. Yusuf asserted that energy costs are actually "more important than taxation" in the current climate, though he noted that colleagues like Robert Jenrick remain focused on the tax burden. 

On national security and domestic policy, Yusuf suggested that technology is not a "silver bullet" but offers clear "low-hanging fruit" for the Home Office. He proposed that Britain’s maritime borders should become the "most surveyed in the world" through a suite of technologies ranging from satellites to machine learning. While acknowledging that millions of white-collar jobs are at risk of automation, he concluded that the primary goal of British political leadership must be "optimising the best possible political life" for its citizens, ensuring that tech serves as both a driver of growth and a guarantor of the national interest. 

While agreeing on the benefits of "verified attributes," this conversation stressed that public trust must be earned through choice, transparency, and a focus on inclusion. 

Sponsored by Yoti. Chaired by Laura Foster, Associate Director for Technology and Innovation at techUK, this panel brought together:  

• Liz Brandt - Co-Founder & CEO, Ctrl-Shift 
• Robin Tombs - CEO and Co-founder, Yoti 
• Jack Cole - Policy Director, Digital ID Taskforce, Cabinet Office, Cabinet Office 
• Victoria Collins MP - Spokesperson for Science, Innovation and Technology, The Liberal Democrats 

Panellists explored how a national digital identity system could strengthen trust, accessibility, and efficiency in digital public services. Panellists agreed that digital ID could deliver real benefits for citizens and businesses alike, from combating fraud to streamlining service delivery, but stressed the need for inclusion, transparency, and public trust. 

Jack Cole highlighted the Government’s focus on ensuring the digital ID scheme is useful, inclusive & trusted, emphasising that UK citizens and businesses should have their say via the digital ID consultation. Victoria Collins warned that any mandatory approach could harm public trust, calling instead for choice and clear communication to avoid repeating past failures. 

Robin Tombs underscored the scale of fraud linked to lost physical IDs, over a million each year, positioning digital ID as a secure alternative that could protect both consumers and service providers. While Liz Brant urged a move beyond simple ID checks toward “verified attributes” and cautioned that government‑controlled digital wallets could limit competition and innovation. 

Kate Forbes MSP highlights the Tech Scaler network as a cornerstone of Scotland’s economic strategy, marking a transition toward a future where every business must operate as an AI business. 

This session was chaired by Sheila Flavell CBE, techUK’s President, in conversation with Kate Forbes MSP, Deputy First Minister of Scotland and Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Gaelic. 

The session opened with Kate provided a reflective and forward-looking overview of Scotland’s journey toward becoming a global tech contender. Having been central to the digital economy portfolio since 2018, Ms Forbes emphasised that the tech sector is no longer a standalone industry but is now deeply embedded into Scotland’s wider economic progress. She pointed to the commissioning of the tech ecosystem review and the subsequent establishment of the Tech Scaler network as pivotal moments that have driven visible growth and increased investment into Scottish startups. 

A major focus of the discussion was the imminent launch of "AI Scotland," a new initiative designed to accelerate adoption across both the public and private sectors. Ms Forbes argued that AI will be the defining factor of Scotland’s future economy, suggesting that the time has come for all companies to view themselves fundamentally as AI businesses. She noted that while the private sector must lead on innovation, the government has a duty to lead by example through robust adoption within public services, ensuring that the transition to an automated economy leaves no business behind. 

Despite the strength of the pipeline, the Deputy First Minister acknowledged the persistent challenge of "scaling out" rather than just "scaling up." While Edinburgh and the Highlands remain powerhouses for scale-up density, she stressed that more sophisticated collaboration with multiple sources of capital is required to prevent Scottish firms from moving elsewhere when they reach larger funding requirements. Closing the session, Ms Forbes expressed personal pride in the Tech Scaler programme, framing it as a career-defining achievement that has successfully built the entrepreneurial infrastructure necessary for Scotland's next digital chapter. 
 

This panel emphasised the importance of brining employees on an AI adoption journey that is task and human-centric, and which seeks to maximise the advantages of adoption while mitigating the anxieties of disruption. 

Sponsored by Salesforce. Chaired by Nimmi Patel, Associate Director for Policy at techUK, this panel consisted of: 

• Anna Thomas MBE, Co-founder and Director, Institute for the Future of Work 
• The Blackwell, Chief Digital Officer for London, Mayor of London 
• Kizzy Price, Vice President of Change and Business Excellence, Adecco Group 
• Simon Collinson, Head of Public Sector, Salesforce UK and Ireland 

Panellists explored how fears of AI disrupting the future of work were a part of wider fears about the impact of AI on society and societal disruption. Panellists agreed on the importance of seeing these fears in this wider context and addressing them as part of this. Panellists focused further on the importance of involving employees in the AI adoption process, as well as focusing on tasks that can be automated and getting under the bonnet of processes to ensure they are optimised in a way that centres humans. 

Simon Collinson stressed the importance of piloting AI in controlled and safe environments to properly experiment with its real world effects and to understand how employees use AI. Anna Thomas agreed that experimentation was important, and further emphasised the importance of guardrails and transparency to ensure the benefits of experimentation were maximised and any negative effects minimised. 

Theo Blackwell meanwhile mentioned the moral imperative of ensuring that the workforce was equipped to understand and utilise AI, calling for local councils to share best practice and procurement information to ensure they get the best AI adoption deals. Kizzy Price meanwhile emphasised the real importance of convincing employees at all levels, including experts in their fields, of the importance of upskilling themselves and their colleagues, further emphasising that employees at all levels should be encouraged to train themselves in AI skills and understands this new technology.

This panel unpacked the meaning of that current buzzword, sovereignty, and sought to show how sovereignty, growth and openness were not mutually exclusive but in fact mutually reinforcing. 

Chaired by Doniya Soni-Clark, Associate Director for Policy Comms at techUK, this panel consisted of: 

• Alvaro Garcia Delgado, Counsellor for Digital Affairs and Space Policy, European Union Delegation to the United Kingdom 
• Rahul Tyagi, Founder and CEO of SECQAI 
• Matthew Houlihan, Vice President, Government Affairs Europe, Cisco 

The panel agreed that the focus of governments around the world were changing the way the tech sector does business and threatened to needlessly raise costs and issues in supply chains as a result. 

Alvaro Garcia Delgado warned against the misuse of terms in the sovereignty conversation, arguing that sovereignty must not become synonymous with autarky, and similarly that not all tech should be brought under the umbrella of national security. Alvaro further emphasised with a decline in multilateralism, preventing miscommunication is essential. 

Other panellists pointed to how the market could provide solutions. Matthew Houlihan outlined Cisco’s work in providing services whereby customers can store data on sovereign soil, but emphasised the need for a wider conversation about security and resilience that took account of legacy IT. Rahul Tyagi meanwhile outlined how governments who want the same capabilities should communicate with one another to spread the costs of development and prevent unnecessary repetition which, through additional costs, reduces sovereign capability.  

The panellists also agreed that it was important for governments and jurisdictions to provide stable frameworks for businesses to create certainty around their future needs, but that this needed to be balanced with frameworks being adaptable to the changing realities of the world. 

The session addressed the urgent need for workforce readiness in the age of LLMs and calls for collective action to protect younger users from evolving online harms. 

This session was chaired by Antony Walker, techUK’s Deputy CEO. Dr Ben Spencer MP is a Shadow Minister for Science, Innovation and Technology, and represents the Conservative Party.

Dr Ben Spencer outlined that the Conservative Party’s approach to tech policy will be business-focused, emphasising lower taxes, deregulation, and increased competition. The main challenge, he said, is building the right ecosystem for UK firms to scale and stay in the country. 

He noted the importance of LLMs in transforming society but warned that the UK is unprepared for the workforce disruption ahead, arguing that current youth unemployment is already an early indicator of workforce transition challenges.  

Dr Spencer also voiced support for restricting under 16s’ access to social media, stating that this requires collective action, clearer definitions of what is considered a social media platform and stressed the importance of addressing various nuanced online harms, such as anonymous messaging and gaming platforms. 

The discussion focused on "AI Growth Zones" in former industrial heartlands and a "big and bold" commitment to women in tech. The conversation moved on to how the Government intends to bridge the gap between industry optimism and public safety concerns. 

This session was chaired by Nicola Hodson, Deputy President of techUK, and Chair of IBM UK&Ireland. The Rt Hon Liz Kendall MP is the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, and represents the Labour Party. 

The Secretary of State reflected on her first six months at the helm of DSIT, noting a distinct contrast between the tech sector’s inherent optimism and rising public anxiety regarding AI and online safety. She was clear that the Government will not be a "bystander" to the inevitable workforce shifts caused by automation. Instead, the Secretary of State argued that the UK must lead the G7 in AI adoption, with the public sector setting the standard to build national confidence and drive wider economic uptake. 

A central theme of the conversation was the geographical and demographic distribution of tech success. Ms Kendall highlighted the development of "AI Growth Zones" on former industrial sites, designed to bring high-tech economic opportunities to disadvantaged areas. Diversity was also framed as both an ethical and economic imperative; the Secretary of State noted that while female entrepreneurs receive significantly less VC funding, they deliver higher rates of return. She expressed a desire to deliver a "big and bold" intervention for women in tech, linking diversity directly to the UK’s competitive advantage. 

Looking toward the immediate policy horizon, the Secretary of State signalled that the Government is moving to strengthen tech sovereignty and improve procurement processes to better support domestic firms. She noted that the Chancellor’s upcoming Mais Lecture would further detail the Government’s backing for British AI and quantum companies. Ultimately, Ms Kendall emphasised that the future of the UK tech sector depends on "bringing the public along," ensuring that regulation around social media and AI creates a secure environment where innovation can thrive alongside public trust.