GCS CEO David Bloxham sits down with Dr. Mona Ashok, Co-Director of the Thames Valley AI Hub for a practical conversation on responsible AI adoption. Mona shares lessons from the pandemic that can guide today’s GenAI wave, why regulation alone isn’t enough, and how organizations can build governance that actually works.

Timestamps

00:00 — Intro and welcome to the GCS Connect Leader Series

01:12 — Meet Dr. Mona Ashok: roles, research, and global background

04:18 — Career journey: from finance to digital transformation and AI

08:05 — AI isn’t new; what changed with GenAI and why it matters now

11:42 — Parliamentary evidence: regulation, governance, and ethics themes

15:30 — Who’s “leading” in AI? US models, China’s patents, EU strategy, India’s skills

19:55 — The three cogs of Responsible AI: regulation, governance, standards (ISO/BSI)

23:48 — Sector focus and community building: Thames Valley AI Hub (healthcare, education)

27:36 — Urgency after social media: environmental costs and sustainability of LLMs

32:10 — Access, equity, and the open-source vs. proprietary debate

36:44 — Education realities: student use of GenAI, bias, hallucinations, and AI literacy

41:20 — What organizations can do now: ethics committee, risk appetite, metrics, standards

46:02 — What’s next for Mona: policy work, BSI standards, doctoral research, TV AI Hub

49:20 — Are we in a golden age of tech? Closing reflections