“I’ve long advocated for the government to act as a customer for AI start-ups,” says Nigel Toon, founder and CEO of Graphcore. “If government bodies can become early adopters, it could be a game-changer for UK innovation.”

Toon was speaking about the government’s recent AI strategy announcement. Built on Entrepreneur First co-founder Matt Clifford’s AI Opportunities Action Plan, the strategy is about “laying the foundations to enable AI.” This means a focus on improving access to quality data through, among other things, a national data library, as well as developing “AI growth zones” and incentives for upskilling.

It is without doubt a bold idea that has broadly received warm praise. For Toon, already a veteran in what is still a nascent AI industry, the strategy is welcome news but of course, it is still early days.

“Governments have struggled to pull the data piece together in the past, and whether there can be some breakthroughs now will be quite interesting,” says Toon. “It’s good to see investment in compute infrastructure, but we need to ensure it benefits not just research clusters but also smaller enterprises.”

The proof of government policy is in the delivery and this government will be judged on how it manages the complexities of public and private interests. Regulation, investment, and actually improving AI talent pipelines will be challenging. But also how this idea of enabling researchers and enterprises of all sizes to benefit and not to just let this be the realm of the highest bidder will be key to driving growth.

“The challenge is proving that the government can be a reliable and engaged customer for start-ups and SMEs,” says Toon. “Smaller, more innovative companies might actually solve some problems more effectively than the traditional IT suppliers government has historically relied on.”

Toon mentions access to computing power, such as Isambard-AI, as also key. Based at the National Composites Centre near Bristol, Isambard-AI recently revealed its role in helping researchers develop new tests and treatments for a range of conditions including Alzheimer’s, emphysema and different types of cancers.