In 2020, I joined the NHS AI Lab as its Deputy Director, a £250M UK Government-backed initiative to develop and deploy safe, ethical AI across the UK healthcare system, and one of the first AI incubators ever set up in a public sector context.

As part of it, I ran the AI Skunkworks & Deployment programme, aiming to trial-and-launch AI-driven services.

While I often joke that joining a healthcare organisation in the midst of a global pandemic was a debatable life choice, that experience gave me a solid exposure to what it actually means to try to adopt AI.

I now help run HM Revenues & Customs' Chief AI Office.

This 4-part blog tries to share some lessons.