Alan Brown

Alan Brown

Alan is a digital technologist, researcher, and entrepreneur. He holds a Professorship in Digital Economy at the University of Exeter, UK and held a Fellowship at the Alan Turing Institute, the UK National institute for data science and AI.

Digital Economy Dispatch #238 -- Living with Digital Debt

Digital Economy Dispatch #238 -- Living with Digital Debt

Alan Brown
Alan Brown
Digital Economy Dispatch #237 -- Thinking With AI, Not About It

Digital Economy Dispatch #237 -- Thinking With AI, Not About It

Leaders must shift from viewing AI as a tool to embracing it as "co-intelligence" -- a collaborative partner.

Alan Brown
Alan Brown
Digital Economy Dispatch #236 -- Charting Your AI Course: A Guide for Busy Leaders and Decision Makers

Digital Economy Dispatch #236 -- Charting Your AI Course: A Guide for Busy Leaders and Decision Makers

How to start with AI can be confusing. A simple "AI Inside, Outside, Upside & Downside Review" framework can help busy leaders strategically integrate AI by examining internal operations, customer experience, growth opportunities, and potential risks.

Alan Brown
Alan Brown
Digital Economy Dispatch #235 -- AI and the Human Reality of Digital Transformation

Digital Economy Dispatch #235 -- AI and the Human Reality of Digital Transformation

Digital transformation in healthcare is well underway. But the reality of accelerating it with AI requires facing up to some serious human-centric challenges.

Alan Brown
Alan Brown
Digital Economy Dispatch #234 -- Data-Driven Insights into How AI is Reshaping Work, Teams, and Leadership

Digital Economy Dispatch #234 -- Data-Driven Insights into How AI is Reshaping Work, Teams, and Leadership

Microsoft's 2025 Work Trend Index reveals that leading "Frontier Firms" are fundamentally reshaping work through AI integration, utilizing "intelligence on tap" and human-agent teams.

Alan Brown
Alan Brown
Digital Economy Dispatch #233 -- AI as Normal Technology: A Pragmatic AI-at-Scale Strategy Approach

Digital Economy Dispatch #233 -- AI as Normal Technology: A Pragmatic AI-at-Scale Strategy Approach

Hot on the heels of "AI Snake Oil", in Narayanan and Kapoor forthcoming book they advocate viewing AI as "normal technology", emphasizing maintaining human control and assessing progress realistically as fundamental for an effective AI-at-Scale strategy.

Alan Brown
Alan Brown
Digital Economy Dispatch #232 -- The Hidden Politics of AI in the Digital Age

Digital Economy Dispatch #232 -- The Hidden Politics of AI in the Digital Age

AI technologies embed political values and power dynamics that reshape organizations, requiring leaders to recognize how these tools redistribute authority and encode specific worldviews.

Alan Brown
Alan Brown
Digital Economy Dispatch #231 -- Does AI Make Us More Productive?

Digital Economy Dispatch #231 -- Does AI Make Us More Productive?

Despite the excitement around AI, is it improving productivity? Achieving AI's productivity gains requires more than just implementation; it needs strategic changes in workflows, measurement, and human-AI collaboration to unlock transformative value.

Alan Brown
Alan Brown
Digital Economy Dispatch #230 -- The Challenges of AI Adoption in the UK Public Sector

Digital Economy Dispatch #230 -- The Challenges of AI Adoption in the UK Public Sector

Reviewing AI in UK public sector organizations has revealed a gap between AI's potential and the reality with implementation challenges such as outdated systems and lack of transparency. Addressing this is essential to increase the government's capacity for widespread AI adoption.

Alan Brown
Alan Brown
Digital Economy Dispatch #229 -- Understanding AI Attitudes

Digital Economy Dispatch #229 -- Understanding AI Attitudes

Understanding individual and organizational attitudes towards AI is crucial for determining the success of your AI adoption. Recent surveys reveal a complex spectrum of public perceptions. Exploring them brings important insight for digital leaders.

Alan Brown
Alan Brown