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 Dispatches #293 -- Where is the Intelligence in Your AI Strategy?

Digital Economy Dispatches #293 -- Where is the Intelligence in Your AI Strategy?

Enterprise AI stalls when leaders assume intelligence sits in the product, service, or infrastructure. Instead,think about it as the interaction between user, organisation, and system. With that focus, you'll see more measurable success from AI adoption.

Alan Brown
Alan Brown
Digital Economy Dispatch #292 -- The Defence Investment Plan's Sovereign Challenge

Digital Economy Dispatch #292 -- The Defence Investment Plan's Sovereign Challenge

The UK has published a £298bn defence plan that is underpinned by AI. But the £7.3bn digital architecture that decides whether the UK controls key AI components is largely undefined.

Alan Brown
Alan Brown
Digital Economy Dispatch #291 -- Why the Regulator's Limited Grasp of AI is Your Problem Too

Digital Economy Dispatch #291 -- Why the Regulator's Limited Grasp of AI is Your Problem Too

The regulator’s limited grasp of AI shapes how fast, and how well, you can adopt it. Whether you like it or not.

Alan Brown
Alan Brown
Digital Economy Dispatch #290 -- Does the UK Need an AI Bill?

Digital Economy Dispatch #290 -- Does the UK Need an AI Bill?

Britain has no AI law and arguing over whether to pass one misses the point. What protects people and drives growth is the same: capability and the freedom to switch suppliers.

Alan Brown
Alan Brown
Digital Economy Dispatch #289 -- AI Tokenmaxxing: When the Meter Becomes the Metric

Digital Economy Dispatch #289 -- AI Tokenmaxxing: When the Meter Becomes the Metric

Tokenmaxxing, the search for AI's returns, and a lesson I first learned counting lines of code.

Alan Brown
Alan Brown
Digital Economy Dispatch #288 -- How to Rewire the State

Digital Economy Dispatch #288 -- How to Rewire the State

UK Parliament's "Rewiring the State" report quotes my work and confirms my book's diagnosis: end vendor lock-in, build sovereignty. The right diagnosis, but still too little on how to deliver it.

Alan Brown
Alan Brown
Digital Economy Dispatch #287 -- How Much AI Does the UK Government Actually Use?

Digital Economy Dispatch #287 -- How Much AI Does the UK Government Actually Use?

The UK government declares it uses just 131 AI systems. That is clearly too low. The mandated register reveals only the safest tools, leaving real deployment unknown and unknowable.

Alan Brown
Alan Brown
Digital Economy Dispatch #286 -- Seven Hard Lessons from One of AI's Toughest Operating Environments

Digital Economy Dispatch #286 -- Seven Hard Lessons from One of AI's Toughest Operating Environments

Bad data, brutal experimentation ratios, turf wars, and a programme that refused to die. Seven important leadership lessons from Project Maven.

Alan Brown
Alan Brown
Digital Economy Dispatch #285 -- Find. Fix. Finish

Digital Economy Dispatch #285 -- Find. Fix. Finish

The Pentagon's AI playbook has three steps. Katrina Manson's new Project Maven book explains why most organisations — and Britain in particular — can’t get past the first.

Alan Brown
Alan Brown
Digital Economy Dispatch #284 -- From Digitizing Government to Making AI Work for Britain

Digital Economy Dispatch #284 -- From Digitizing Government to Making AI Work for Britain

The GDS era showed Britain how to make progress in digital transformation, then ran into significant roadblocks. A decade later, AI is repeating the same structural mistakes. The key lesson for UK’s AI delivery is to ensure we focus: consolidate demand and diversify supply.

Alan Brown
Alan Brown