Why This Group Exists
AI is becoming central to economic competitiveness, public services, infrastructure and national security. Yet many of the compute platforms, models, hardware supply chains and software ecosystems on which UK organisations rely are supplied by, owned by or operationally dependent on organisations headquartered outside the UK.
That dependency creates live commercial and strategic questions. Can a critical service be repriced, restricted or withdrawn? Can essential systems continue if external support stops? Does a service hosted in the UK still depend on foreign software, updates or decision rights? Does procurement create resilient choice, or deepen reliance on a single provider?
The UKAI Sovereign AI Working Group exists to turn those questions into practical strategy. It treats sovereignty as a spectrum based on risk and criticality, not as a binary label. Different sectors and use cases require different levels of ownership, autonomy, control and resilience. The task is to identify where the UK must retain capability, where trusted partners strengthen it and how organisations can make informed decisions across the AI stack.
This is not a campaign for isolation. It is a working group for leaders shaping the policy, investment, procurement, standards and delivery models needed to reduce strategic dependency while strengthening UK innovation. It also examines how the UK can become a trusted provider of secure and commercially viable sovereign AI capabilities to allies and partner nations.
Who’s Involved
Chaired by Lord Paul Drayson, the group includes founders and senior leaders working across the sovereign AI ecosystem, from compute and platforms to models, data, cyber assurance and applied deployment.
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.
Chris Jefferson
Daniel Callis
James Milnes
JIVA
Manish Patel
Stephen Moore
Vanessa Carson
How the Group Works
The Sovereign AI Working Group shapes a focused programme of activity throughout the year. UKAI convenes the group, provides governance and secretariat support, and translates member insight into coherent outputs, wider activity and external engagement.
Roundtables
Discussions held under the Chatham House Rule on strategic dependency, sovereign compute, data control, trusted models, procurement, continuity and the practical realities of building UK capability. Sessions are grounded in current organisational decisions, market constraints and implementation experience.
Fireside Conversations
Curated discussions with senior figures from government, investment, infrastructure, research and industry. These sessions allow members to test assumptions, understand emerging priorities and connect policy direction with commercial and operational reality.
Collaborative Outputs
The group will develop practical assessment tools, dependency and procurement guidance, insight papers and case studies. It will also explore the development of a Sovereign AI maturity model based on ownership, autonomy, control and resilience. Outputs are shaped with members and delivered by UKAI for use across the wider ecosystem.
Policy, Procurement and Investment Engagement
Member evidence informs UKAI engagement with government, public-sector buyers, investors and other organisations shaping the conditions for sovereign AI. The group focuses on the market levers that can create demand, reduce barriers, strengthen UK supply and support commercially viable capability.
Strategic Collaboration with Other UKAI Groups
Sovereignty intersects with infrastructure, energy, legal risk, cyber security, responsible AI and skills. UKAI connects the group with relevant programmes across these areas where priorities overlap, ensuring that national capability is considered as a connected system rather than a series of isolated assets.
What’s Coming Up
The group’s initial programme will focus on the points where ownership, control and resilience affect strategic decisions.
Members will identify the dependencies that matter most, test where different levels of sovereignty are proportionate and shape a focused set of priorities for UKAI to take forward.
Initial areas may include
• Developing a shared framework for assessing sovereignty, dependency and organisational control.
• Identifying where critical and regulated uses require stronger continuity, portability or UK capability.
• Examining how procurement, standards and market design can create viable routes for UK suppliers and collaborative bids.
• Considering the investment and commercial conditions needed for trusted UK capabilities to scale.
• Exploring how international partnerships can strengthen resilience and create opportunities for UK companies.
Where priorities extend into compute infrastructure, energy, legal assurance, cyber security, responsible AI or workforce capability, the group will work with the relevant UKAI programmes rather than duplicate their remit.
The group’s conclusions will inform UKAI policy engagement and contribute to the planned Sovereign AI Summit later this year, bringing member insight into a wider discussion with government, industry, investors and international partners.
How to Get Involved
The Sovereign AI Working Group is designed for UKAI members with senior responsibility for enterprise AI strategy, technology transformation, infrastructure, models, data, cyber security, assurance, procurement, investment, research, policy or the deployment of AI in sensitive and regulated environments.
The group brings together both the organisations building sovereign capability and the enterprise leaders deciding where greater control, 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 by appointment and deliberately limited 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.