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Trailblazer Vote

Sovereign AI Awards 2026 · People's Vote

Trailblazer Award

The individual who has been the greatest champion for Britain's AI sovereignty. Our judges have shortlisted five finalists. Read about each one, then cast your vote.

01Meet the finalists 02Cast your vote 03Watch the live results
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The finalists

Finalists are listed in alphabetical order.

Alistair Pullen

CEO and Co-founder, Cosine

Nominated by Sarah Monette, Cosine

Alistair Pullen, CEO and co-founder of Cosine, has built an AI software engineering company whose platform can run in the cloud, in dedicated environments or fully offline, together with the Lumen family of AI models trained for software engineering.

He leads Lumen Sovereign, a planned UK sovereign AI model backed by the UK Sovereign AI Fund and shaped by a coalition including the Alan Turing Institute, BAE Systems, BT, HSBC, Lloyds and PwC. Two Lumen models are already commercially available.

Judges' analysis

The judges recognised a leader who has helped move sovereign AI from a slogan to a real engineering programme, built with major UK institutions to run inside their own secure systems.

James Garner FRICS

Head of AI and Data, Gleeds

Nominated by James Garner, Gleeds

James Garner sat on the RICS expert working group that wrote the surveying profession's first responsible AI standard, which came into force in March 2026, and hosted the RICS discussion on putting it into practice.

At Gleeds he applies that standard through an AI policy requiring human review, client disclosure and training, a new AI risk board, and the rollout of the firm's Assist tool after a trial with more than 1,200 users. He has given 31 talks and appearances in 2026.

Judges' analysis

The judges recognised someone who has shaped a profession-wide standard for AI and shown how to apply it in practice, making him a visible voice for responsible AI in the built environment.

Leon Fedden

Chief Technology Officer, Literal Labs

Nominated by Paul Southall, Commplicated

Leon Fedden, Chief Technology Officer of Newcastle University spin-out Literal Labs, has led the creation of Logic-Based Networks: AI models built from logic rather than the heavy multiplication behind neural networks.

Independent MLPerf benchmarks measured them as 54 times faster and 52 times more energy-efficient than neural networks, running on everyday chips without GPUs. They are in live use in water, solar energy and robotics, and his team is now working on compact language and generative models.

Judges' analysis

The judges saw Leon's work as the most original technical contribution in the category: UK-born technology that offers a path to powerful AI without competing in the costly race for GPUs.

Shubhra Kamat

Senior AI Manager, Chelsea and Westminster NHS Trust

Nominated by Maryann Ferreux, Health Innovation Network South East England

Shubhra Kamat has led the implementation and clinical evaluation of AI-assisted discharge summaries at Chelsea and Westminster, one of the NHS's most advanced uses of generative AI and now a registered medical device.

Its evaluation found the AI drafts at least as good as clinician-written summaries across every overall measure and in 20 of 21 quality domains. She also built the governance, safety, training and AI skills frameworks around it, and speaks nationally on responsible AI adoption in the NHS.

Judges' analysis

The judges recognised leadership in safe, well-evaluated adoption of AI in the NHS, backed by an independent senior NHS nomination and a growing national voice.

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh OBE

Founder, Sovereign AI Power Index

Nominated by Rachel Louw, Asta AI

Former MP Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh OBE founded the Sovereign AI Power Index, which ranks nations on compute, investment, regulatory readiness, data sovereignty and their ability to turn AI resources into real capability. She launched it at the House of Lords in April 2026 and published the first rankings there in July.

The index now ranks 50 countries across two editions, and she has drawn on her diplomatic network to engage 25 countries. She speaks widely on AI sovereignty and on women's leadership in AI.

Judges' analysis

The judges rated Tasmina as the strongest champion in the category: a high-profile public voice for AI and data sovereignty who has made Britain a convening point for measuring it.

Live results

Votes so far. Results are updated regularly while voting is open.

Alistair Pullen
0
James Garner
0
Leon Fedden
0
Shubhra Kamat
0
Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh
0
0 votes castLast updated: awaiting first votes

Cast your vote

Choose one finalist and tell us who you are.

You can vote once in this category, and you are welcome to vote in every category. If the same email address votes more than once in a category, only the most recent vote is counted. The People's Vote runs alongside the independent judging panel's assessment.