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 #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
Digital Economy Dispatch #228 -- AI is not Magic, it's Economics

Digital Economy Dispatch #228 -- AI is not Magic, it's Economics

Want to understand AI? Start by viewing AI's impact as economics by recognizing how it reduces the cost of prediction, not as a magic digital technology.

Alan Brown
Alan Brown
Digital Economy Dispatch #227 -- Concerned About AI? Don't Worry, Be Happy!

Digital Economy Dispatch #227 -- Concerned About AI? Don't Worry, Be Happy!

I find I'm often cynical about delivering impact with AI. In contrast, several tech leaders foresee AI solving major global challenges and changing society for the better. Are they right?

Alan Brown
Alan Brown
Digital Economy Dispatch #226 -- The Evolving Interplay between Business and Technology

Digital Economy Dispatch #226 -- The Evolving Interplay between Business and Technology

Business and technology are becoming indistinguishable in the digital age. By viewing their relationship through the concepts of the "technology of business" and the "business of technology", we can see how AI will accelerate this fusion.

Alan Brown
Alan Brown