Microsoft UK appoints Amanda Sleight to lead the UK Public Sector business 

Microsoft UK has appointed Amanda Sleight as its new General Manager for UK Public Sector starting on 1 January 2025.

Amanda brings more than 25 years of experience leading high-performing teams in technology companies, including SAP and AWS, where she most recently led AWS’s Commercial Services team.

The move is a return to Microsoft, where Amanda spent 17 years in a variety of roles.

Welcoming the appointment, Clare Barclay, CEO, Microsoft UK, said: “I’m delighted to welcome Amanda back to Microsoft UK.

“We have an incredible opportunity as a strategic partner to the UK Government to help transform citizen services through technology and AI to help realise the ambitions of growth, efficiency, and innovation.”

Microsoft research has found that public sector employees could save as much as 23 million hours a week automating routine bureaucratic processes that would then leave them freer to concentrate on higher-value activities.

By adopting Generative AI (GenAI), nurses, doctors, police officers, social care workers and council employees – nearly six million public sector employees as of December 2023 – could save four hours a week per person on average, the report finds.

Local councils, such as Barnsley, Buckinghamshire and Derby are already embracing GenAI tools, such as Microsoft 365 Copilot and Azure OpenAI, to reduce the burden of time-consuming admin and empower their employees to offer a better quality service to local taxpayers. 

Commenting on her move, Amanda said: “I am delighted to be returning to Microsoft, to lead a team who are passionate about Public Sector and the impact their work has on the UK. 

“We are at a pivotal time in the role technology will play in helping governments innovate and achieve their goals and ambitions.

“I am very much looking forward to having the opportunity to build a strong technology partnership with the UK Government.”