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 #241 -- Taking a Strategic Approach to Responsible AI Adoption

Digital Economy Dispatch #241 -- Taking a Strategic Approach to Responsible AI Adoption

There is pressure on leaders and decision makers to rapidly adopt AI. However, past digital transformation lessons guide us to prioritize strategic implementation and human impact instead of overreacting to AI hype.

Alan Brown
Alan Brown
Digital Economy Dispatch #240 -- A Digital Transformation Perspective on the UK Spending Review 2025

Digital Economy Dispatch #240 -- A Digital Transformation Perspective on the UK Spending Review 2025

Viewed through a digital lens, the UK's new spending review commits billions to achieve global AI leadership. The challenge is to convert this ambition and investment into a practical path to deliver responsible AI at scale.

Alan Brown
Alan Brown
Digital Economy Dispatch #239 -- OpenAI's Lessons on Scaling AI Adoption

Digital Economy Dispatch #239 -- OpenAI's Lessons on Scaling AI Adoption

Based on enterprise adoption experiences, OpenAI's new report offers seven practical strategies for scaling AI, emphasizing that success requires treating it as a new business paradigm, not just another IT project.

Alan Brown
Alan Brown
Digital Economy Dispatch #238 -- Living with Digital Debt

Digital Economy Dispatch #238 -- Living with Digital Debt

The high cost and constant attention required by our digital lives creates a "digital debt". Will the latest wave of AI tools add to this debt, or are they the path to clear up the mess?

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