In the run-up to his keynote speech at London Tech Week on 8 June 2026, Darren Hardman, CEO Microsoft UK & Ireland, argues that AI could vastly improve public services for UK citizens while making public sector jobs more rewarding and human. But only if the UK is bold enough to seize this golden opportunity.
An NHS doctor recently told me that the hardest part of modern healthcare is not the huge workload, the cost pressures or even the medicine, it’s the administration.
Those hours and hours spent typing up notes and referral letters could be better spent talking directly to patients, he said. And this is what excited him most about AI – the possibility of reducing the “cognitive load” and getting back to what he does best – helping people.
And for me, this is one of the most important ways to think about AI in relation to public services. It’s relieving our public servants – many of whom feel overwhelmed and under-resourced – of that stifling admin that prevents them doing the job they signed up to do.
AI is enabling them to be more human.
I’ve seen the relief on doctors’ faces when they try AI-powered tools like Microsoft’s Dragon Copilot for the first time. With patient permission, this clinical assistant listens during consultations, generate notes, and summarise information – helping doctors spend less time typing and more time caring.
And I’m seeing this pattern repeated throughout the UK public sector – from the NHS to local councils, from emergency services to central government. Microsoft technology is reducing the admin burden, improving responsiveness, and freeing people to focus on higher-value work.
And that is translating into better services for UK citizens.
More face-to-face
For instance, in South Wales, social workers shared with me how AI is freeing them up to spend more time supporting vulnerable families. It’s giving them back that valuable face-to face time that’s so important in social care, where no two families’ needs are exactly the same.
And with this reduction in admin comes a reduction in stress, a better work-life balance, and happier staff who stay longer – an important point often overlooked in a sector where recruitment and retention can be challenging.
I’ve heard similar stories from Lancashire County Council, where AI is enabling social workers to spend more in-person time with the people they support, resulting in deeper relationships, more carefully curated help plans, and a better-quality service.
Accelerating learning
We are beginning to see similar opportunities emerge in education, too.
Universities and schools are exploring how AI can help students access information and support more easily, while enabling teachers and staff to spend more time focused on learning, mentoring and engagement.
For example, the University of Manchester is going all in on AI, becoming the first university in the UK to offer Microsoft 365 Copilot to all 65,000 students and staff – embedding AI into learning, research and day-to-day university life. And several other universities are looking to emulate Manchester’s pioneering approach.
Augmenting human expertise
In fact, there are few areas of public service that aren’t being improved by the application of AI.
Durham Police is using AI to help respond more quickly to public information requests. At the Department for Work and Pensions, Work Coaches are using Copilot to help personalise support for jobseekers. The Ministry of Justice is exploring how to make our courts system more efficient, by automatically transcribing court hearings, summarising judgements or streamlining court listings, for example. And at Companies House, staff are using AI to handle routine enquiries and administrative tasks.
Government trials suggest AI could save civil servants nearly two working weeks a year. All this time saved could be spent giving UK citizens better quality services.
AI can make a massive difference in a public sector dealing with rising demand, limited resources and increasing complexity. Public sector workers join these professions because they want to help people, not spend hours navigating paperwork and disjointed systems.
Of course, AI adoption throughout the public sector must be done responsibly, with trust, governance, transparency and security baked in from the start. And at Microsoft, we believe AI should augment human expertise – not replace human accountability. Which is why we place such a huge emphasis on observability, strong governance frameworks, and human oversight.
Bold collaboration
The opportunity for the UK is huge. We have the chance to become a global leader in how to roll out AI-powered public services that are more intuitive to use, more responsive to our needs, and more effective in their outcomes. All within a framework of security and accountability.
But to achieve this goal, we need public sector leaders, government, educators and technology providers to continue working together with energy and focus. We don’t want isolated pockets of innovation happening here and there, we want all UK citizens – and all UK public servants – to feel the benefits as quickly as possible.
This entails investing not only in technology, but in skills, leadership, and governance. Let’s spread best practice, share the wins, and join forces to create an AI-enabled state that works for all of us.
And let’s be bold enough to seize this golden opportunity.