Government’s Incubator for Artificial Intelligence has now recruited more than three-fifths of its intended permanent headcount, a minister has revealed.
The incubator – launched in November 2023 and known as i.AI – was initially established with 30 employees. Plans to more than double this workforce were announced earlier this year.
According to AI and digital government minister Feryal Clark, the unit has grown to a total of more than 40 staff as of the start of September. This equates to a little over 60% of its intended size.
“As a new team, i.AI is still recruiting to fill the agreed full-time headcount of 70 staff,” she said. “The current equivalent headcount is 43.”
Positions at the incubator are split into 10 distinct roles across six core areas: AI engineers; data and cloud; evaluation; product delivery; software development; and user-centred design, according to the organisation’s website.
The site describes the unit as “an elite team of highly empowered technical experts at the heart of government [with a] mission is to harness the opportunity of AI to improve lives, drive growth, and deliver better public services”.
“We provide an incubation function to quickly test and evaluate ideas for applications of AI to improve the function of government and the delivery of public services,” it adds. “We work in collaboration to co-design and build tools with policy and delivery professionals in government departments and in the wider public sector.”
The incubator was initially housed jointly in the Cabinet Office and Downing Street. Following the general election, the new Labour administration has moved i.AI – as well as the Government Digital Service and the Central Digital and Data Office – to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, to create a new “digital centre of government”.
The minister’s comments came in response to a written parliamentary question from Conservative MP Alex Burghart – who preceded Clark as the minister with responsibility for digital government.