Governments should look for the best solution to a specific problem, not view AI as the answer to everything. That’s one of the main lessons shared by Dr Laura Gilbert CBE, previously Director of the Incubator for AI at No 10 Downing Street. Laura tells Sheena Thompson, Government and Infrastructure AI Co-leader, how the Incubator built trust through “competency and intent”. That meant sharing code, evaluations and failures, along with use cases to show it was acting in citizens’ best interests.

The conversation also covers the ethical implications of LLMs that are trained on data informed by local cultural norms. And Laura shares her aim of using AI to make the experience of government more human.

This is the fourth episode of AI Pioneers, a miniseries featuring speakers from pioneering government organizations identified in EY’s data and AI reports. Listen in for practical lessons from peers who have successfully moved from ambition to impact – scaling AI to transform their organizations and how they serve citizens. 20 mins

At the South African Revenue Service (SARS), AI-powered fraud and risk detection have stopped 100 billion rand in impermissible refunds and recovered 20 billion rand in revenue by dismantling illicit schemes. SARS also uses third-party data to auto-assess almost six million personal income tax returns, with a 99% acceptance rate.

Carl Scholtz, Deputy Commissioner, Strategy Enablement and Modernisation at SARS, tells Thomas Erwin, EY Global Government and Infrastructure Co-leader, how his organization designs digital services so that “tax just happens”. It also combines experimentation with world-leading governance and an ethical-by-design approach – for example, testing AI bot responses for relevance rather than deterministic consistency. The North Star: making sure taxpayers and employees have a great experience.

This is the third episode of AI Pioneers, a miniseries featuring speakers from pioneering government organizations identified in EY’s data and AI reports. Listen in for practical lessons from peers who have successfully moved from ambition to impact – scaling AI to transform their organizations and how they serve citizens. 26 mins

For Shen Hwee Chua, Chief Data Officer at the Energy Market Authority in Singapore, the biggest hurdle to implementing a GenAI productivity tool has been human resistance.

As she tells Thomas Erwin, EY Global Government and Infrastructure AI Co-leader, hosting the organization’s GenAI platform on a government-approved cloud was key, as was democratizing access and skills. Codesigning the tool with important stakeholders and continually gathering their feedback gained buy-in. And automating the process of making documents machine-readable saved many hours of manual effort.

In future, Shen Hwee believes AI technologies will not only make governments more efficient but also allow them to collaborate more dynamically – across departments, agencies and borders.

This is the second episode of AI Pioneers, a miniseries featuring speakers from pioneering government organizations identified in EY’s data and AI reports. Listen in for practical lessons from peers who have successfully moved from ambition to impact – scaling AI to transform their organizations and how they serve citizens. 16 mins

Not only do over half of all Estonians use AI daily, but on average, government employees are more likely than private sector employees to do so (37% v 25%).

In this episode, Ott Velsberg, Estonia’s Government Chief Data Officer, explains how mandatory training, role-specific competencies and positioning AI as a productivity tool have normalized its use across the public sector. He tells Thomas Erwin, EY Government and Infrastructure AI Co-leader, how the government has put real-world experimentation before drafting policy and reformed AI funding to support testing hypotheses, not delivering outcomes. And he sets out how being transparent about how data is used and algorithms work can help build citizen trust.

This is the first in a miniseries featuring speakers from pioneering government organizations. 22 mins

To listen to EY Government and Infrastructure audio reports follow this link: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/ey-government-and-infrastructure-audio-reports/id1789638494

In challenging economic times, preserving social cohesion isn’t only about supporting the vulnerable; it’s essential for maintaining peace and security. And as the final episode of our mini-series reveals, transparent leadership and inclusive policymaking play a vital role.

Joining host Tim Smith are Jessica Chamba, EY Global Human Services Leader, and Safia Rahemtulla, the EY Partner who leads Risk Consulting for Canada's Government and Public Sector practice. To build trust, they suggest governments involve citizens in decision-making, communicate progress clearly and think carefully about what they spend, and with whom, to deliver on their mandate.

Government Risk Radar is a mini-series that provides professional insights and practical strategies to help government and public sector leaders tackle an evolving risk landscape. It accompanies the EY report on the top 10 risks for the sector in 2025, which you can download as a PDF or listen to in audio format here. 24 mins

With climate change intensifying, bringing higher human and financial costs, governments must step up their efforts to both mitigate its risks and adapt to its impacts.

The challenges and opportunities this poses are the focus of this episode. Joining host Tim Smith are Dr. Matthew Bell, EY Global Leader of Climate Change and Sustainability Services, and Ruth Ahchow, EY Global Climate Change and Sustainability Services Leader for the Government and Public Sector.

Their discussion includes the benefits of closer working with the private sector, why government policies need to be long term and predictable, and the wide-reaching positive outcomes of decarbonizing fast for economies, communities and the environment.

Government Risk Radar is a mini-series that provides expert insights and practical strategies to help government and public sector leaders tackle an evolving risk landscape. It accompanies the EY report on the top 10 risks for the sector in 2025, which you can download as a PDF or listen to in audio format here. 16 mins

How can governments adopt digital technologies while regulating their use and supporting innovation?

That’s the question Permenthri Pillay, Partner, Business Consulting, EY Australia, and EY Regional Digital Government Leader, Oceania, and Thomas Erwin, EY EMEIA AI & Data Leader, address in this episode. They tell host Tim Smith about the complexities of digitalization for governments and the risks of falling behind. They also share positive examples of artificial intelligence (AI) governance and collaboration, and explain why, with budgets and workforces shrinking, investing in digital infrastructure is governments’ best bet.

Government Risk Radar is a mini-series that provides professional insights and practical strategies to help government and public sector leaders tackle an evolving risk landscape. It accompanies the EY report on the top 10 risks for the sector in 2025, which you can download as a PDF or listen to in audio format here. 22 mins