Committees

Artificial Intelligence, business and the future of the workforce

Inquiry

The Business and Trade Committee is holding an inquiry into Artificial Intelligence (AI) in order to better understand the opportunities and costs for businesses and the workforce, and to make recommendations on Government priorities.

AI has advanced rapidly in recent years, supported by major improvements in computing power, data availability and the emergence of large language models (LLMs). This has enabled AI to perform an expanding range of tasks.

AI adoption has increased, but uptake remains uneven. As adoption accelerates, AI is expected to have significant impacts on UK business and the UK workforce, reshaping work. It will prove a growth industry in itself, enhance productivity, disrupt existing industries and business models, cost jobs, and create jobs.

The Government’s AI Opportunities Action Plan includes a twentyfold expansion of public AI hardware by 2030 and seeks to leverage private investment through initiatives such as the US–UK Tech Prosperity Deal (with £30 billion committed by major technology firms).

This inquiry is no longer accepting evidence

The deadline for submissions was 11:59pm on 3 April 2026.

Upcoming events

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No upcoming events scheduled

Past events

Wednesday 8 July 2026
2:30pm Public
Artificial Intelligence, business and the future of the workforce - Oral evidence 8 July 2026
2:30pm
  • Carl-Benedikt Frey (Associate Professor of AI & Work at the Oxford Internet Institute at University of Oxford)
  • Anna Thomas MBE (Founding Director at Institute for the Future of Work)
  • The Baroness Lane-Fox of Soho CBE (Chair at London AI and Jobs Taskforce)
  • Adam Cantwell-Corn (AI and Tech Policy Lead at Trades Union Congress)
3:20pm
  • Lauren Thorpe (Chief Transformation Officer at United Learning)
  • Phil Smith CBE (Chairman at Skills England)
  • Julia Adamson MBE (Executive Director for Education and Public Benefit at BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT)
  • Will Sandbrook (Managing Director at Nest Insight)
4:10pm
  • Kate Dearden MP (Minister for Employment Rights and Consumer Protection at Department for Business and Trade)
  • Blair McDougall MP (Minister for Small Business and Economic Transformation at Department for Business and Trade)
  • Kanishka Narayan MP (Minister for AI and Online Safety at Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Thatcher Room, Portcullis House
Tuesday 16 June 2026
2:30pm Public
Artificial Intelligence, business and the future of the workforce - Oral evidence 16 June 2026
2:30pm
  • Karen Dewar (Chief Data and Analytics Officer at NatWest Group)
  • Daniel Smalley (Industrial AI Lead and Business Manager for Factory Automation Digitalisation at Siemens)
  • Stephen Phipson CBE (Chief Executive Officer at Make UK)
  • Kayur Raughani (Managing Director for Data and AI (UK and Ireland) at Accenture)
3:10pm
  • Ms Vinous Ali (Deputy Executive Director at Startup Coalition)
  • Paul Wilson (Director of Policy at Federation of Small Businesses)
  • David Spence (Head of Applied AI at Innovate UK)
  • Dave Sellick (Founder and Director at Sidgrove)
3:50pm
  • Alyn Jones (Executive ITC Services Director at Somerset Council)
  • Kate Jones (AI Policy Lead at UNISON)
  • Dr Alec Price-Forbes (National Chief Clinical Information Officer at Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England)
Room 8, Palace of Westminster
Tuesday 14 April 2026
2:00pm Private
2:30pm Public
Artificial Intelligence, business and the future of the workforce - Oral evidence 14 April 2026
2:30pm
  • Professor Neil Lawrence (DeepMind Professor of Machine Learning at University of Cambridge)
  • Wendy Hall (Director, Web Science Institute at University of Southampton)
3:10pm
  • Hugh Milward (UK Vice President of Corporate Affairs at Microsoft)
  • Clinton Hasell (Chief Business Officer at Kao Data)
  • Matthew Evans (Chief Operating Officer & Director of Markets at techUK)
3:50pm
  • Karim Palant (Director of External Affairs at UK Private Capital)
  • Phill Robinson (Founder at Boardwave)
  • Simon Menashy (Partner and AI Specialist at MMC Ventures)
The Wilson Room, Portcullis House

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