Why This Group Exists
AI's growth is only as fast as the infrastructure underneath it. Data centres, power, connectivity, and compute capacity are becoming the deciding factor in whether the UK can build, host, and scale AI at the pace the market demands and the organisations delivering that infrastructure are making decisions today that will shape the country's AI capability for years to come.
The UKAI Infrastructure & AI Working Group brings together the operators, investors, and policy leads responsible for that build-out. It is a senior forum for tackling the practical questions: where capacity should be built, how energy and sustainability constraints are managed, and what policy and regulatory support is needed to keep the UK competitive as a location for AI infrastructure
Who’s Involved
Membership draws on data centre operators, infrastructure investors, and public policy leads working at the front line of AI's physical build-out. Members bring direct, operational experience of siting, powering, and scaling the facilities that AI systems run on, and work together to shape UKAI's position on infrastructure policy.
Participation is deliberately limited and by appointment. Members contribute practical experience, evidence and live challenges in a personal capacity. The group is designed to support candid peer discussion and coordinated action, not product promotion.
Alexandra Smith
Allan Bosley
Emma Fryer
Fran Button
Kamal Patel
Spencer Lamb
Sumeet Bhatia
How the Group Works
The Infrastructure & AI Working Group runs a focused programme of activity throughout the year, designed to be low-lift and led by members.
Roundtables - regular member-led sessions on infrastructure capacity, energy, and investment
Policy and Regulator Engagement - direct input into UKAI's advocacy on planning, energy, and investment policy
Collaborative Outputs - co-developed briefings and guidance on AI infrastructure delivery
Strategic Collaboration with Other UKAI Groups - connecting infrastructure priorities with UKAI's wider working group network
Roundtables
Regular member-led sessions on data centre capacity, energy and power constraints, connectivity and the practical realities of siting and scaling AI infrastructure in the UK. Sessions are grounded in current delivery decisions, market constraints and operational experience.
Fireside Conversations
Curated discussions with senior figures from government, energy, investment and industry. These sessions allow members to test assumptions, understand emerging priorities and connect policy direction with commercial and delivery reality.
Collaborative Outputs
The group will develop practical briefings and guidance on infrastructure delivery, covering siting, energy and sustainability, and investment conditions. Outputs are shaped with members and delivered by UKAI for use across the wider ecosystem.
Policy and Regulator Engagement
Member evidence informs UKAI engagement with government, regulators and investors on planning, energy and investment frameworks. The group focuses on the market and policy levers that support capacity delivery and keep the UK competitive as a location for AI infrastructure.
Strategic Collaboration with Other UKAI Groups
Infrastructure intersects with sovereign AI, energy, skills and responsible AI. UKAI connects the group with relevant programmes across these areas where priorities overlap, ensuring that infrastructure capability is considered as part of a connected system rather than in isolation.
What’s Coming Up
UKAI's Sovereign AI Summit (2 November, Central London) will put infrastructure at the heart of the national conversation — from data centre capacity and energy to compute and connectivity - alongside policy, investment and procurement. Working group members will have the opportunity to contribute to the sessions shaping this agenda and to connect with the leaders driving the UK's infrastructure build-out.
How to Get Involved
The Infrastructure & AI Working Group is designed for UKAI members with senior responsibility for data centre operations, energy and power strategy, connectivity, infrastructure investment, or the planning and delivery of the physical capacity AI depends on.
The group brings together both the organisations building that infrastructure and the enterprise leaders and policymakers deciding where greater capacity, resilience and supplier choice are required. This balance ensures that its work reflects real market demand as well as technical, commercial and policy considerations.
Participation is deliberately small and senior so the group retains the depth, balance and candour required for meaningful work. UKAI members outside the core group can contribute through targeted evidence calls, roundtables and wider activity where their experience is relevant.
To express interest in the group or discuss UKAI membership, contact Stephen Moore, Director of Membership and Engagement.