Are mass redundancies actually coming to local authorities, or is AI simply plugging critical workforce gaps?

In this episode of The DigiGov Podcast, we sit down with local government heavyweight Dwayne Johnson. With 40 years of public sector experience, including nearly two decades as a social care director and Chief Executive of Sefton Council, Dwayne brings unparalleled sincerity and transparency to the tech debate. Now a Director at ICS.ai, he works across the UK to help councils transition from legacy structures to future-proof operations.

We dive deep into true local government transformation, exploring:

• The AI Front Door in Action: How Derby City Council utilised generative and agentic AI to handle over 50% of inbound calls, cutting waiting times in half.
• The Four Characteristics Matrix: Dwayne's structured framework for councils navigating integration; evaluating interoperability, data metrics, cybersecurity, and citizen reassurance.
• Breaking Data Silos Safely: How to unify information across housing, benefits, and adult social care for immediate time-to-value.
• Robotics on the Horizon: Why we are only 12 to 18 months away from deploying helpful robotics in care homes and public buildings to augment human care assistants.

Dwayne challenges council leaders to evaluate three variables before launching an AI journey: their financial context, their human resources strategy, and their leadership's appetite for change.

Subscribe to The DigiGov Podcast for more real world insights into the future of digital government. Keep up with Dwayne's work at ics.ai.

Is your organisation focusing too much on the shiny new AI tools and completely ignoring the human beings using them?

In this episode of The DigiGov Podcast, we sit down with AI transformation strategist and TEDx speaker Jamie Bykov-Brett. Jamie challenges the tech-first narrative of the digital revolution, arguing that real public sector innovation isn't about software licenses, it's about rewiring organisational habits. We explore how to move teams past a simple AI login to true workspace integration by prioritising human-centric soft skills like creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking.

We dive deep into:

• The Accountability Boundary: Why machines can automate tasks but can never be held responsible for management decisions.
• The Entry-Level Bottleneck: How AI is flattening traditional intern and entry-level career progression pathways.
• Sovereign Systems vs. Shadow AI: Why the UK public sector must pivot to open-source infrastructure to combat citizen distrust and security flaws.
• Agile Governance: How leaders can honor legacy systems while designing workflows built for algorithmic updates.

Subscribe to The DigiGov Podcast to stay ahead of the curve on digital government transformation. Find Jamie's free automation guides and frameworks at bykovbrett.net.

How do you implement AI without falling victim to bias, security risks, or compliance failure?

In this episode, we speak with Richard Burgess-Kelly, Director of Resourcing Growth at Sopra Steria, about the rapid shift from "what if" to "how do we do" concerning AI in government. Richard, who works closely on sensitive programs, details the immediate challenges faced by the public sector: GDPR compliance, securing data against foreign influence, and ensuring transparency and trust.

Are you focusing on authenticity when you hire? Subscribe to The DigiGov Podcast for more candid conversations on balancing innovation, security, and ethics in the digital age.

Why does transformation stall, and how can government truly become productive?

In this episode, we speak with Peter Mattravers, Head of Public Sector at Celonis, about using Process Intelligence to address major government priorities, from economic growth to elective recovery. Peter explains that Celonis helps organisations understand how the work actually flows, uncovering inefficiencies that conventional systems miss.

Subscribe to The DigiGov Podcast for more insights on public sector productivity.

What connects a career in the military to leading public sector sales at a global tech giant?

In this episode, we speak with Gus Hodson, Head of Public Sector Sales at CloudFlare, about his mission-driven career and the enormous challenges facing government digital services. Gus breaks down the public sector's digital transformation journey into three distinct stages, noting that most organisations are now in the complex "middle stage" of making cloud infrastructure efficient and secure.

Want to see the internet's threats and traffic in real-time? Check out the free tool CloudFlare Radar mentioned by Gus. Subscribe to The DigiGov Podcast for more insights into securing and modernising public sector services.

Is your PMO team spending too much time wading through spreadsheets and manual reporting?

In this exclusive conversation, we sit down with Simon Sharp, CEO of Verto, the leading Portfolio, Programme, and Project Management (PPM) solution in the UK public sector. Simon discusses his journey as a buy-in CEO, Verto’s aggressive growth phase backed by Scaleup Capital, and their unwavering commitment to customer-centricity.

Subscribe to The DigiGov Podcast to hear more about the technology and people driving government transformation.

Is your organisation's archived data a ticking security risk or a strategic goldmine? Most government bodies treat their old information as an expensive liability, but they are missing a massive opportunity.

In this episode of The DigiGov Podcast, we welcome Graham Ashworth, Managing Director of Archive360, who explains how modern information management is redefining data storage.

Graham details the shift from costly, siloed legacy archives to a cloud-native platform that is both secure and searchable.

Ready to stop seeing your archived data as a problem and start treating it as a strategic asset?

Subscribe to The DigiGov Podcast for more conversations on building a modern digital government.

In this episode of The DigiGov Podcast, we sit down with Peter Hanney, CEO of Through Technology, to tackle one of the biggest challenges facing the public sector: legacy technology. Peter explains why these outdated systems are more than just a security risk—they're the single biggest barrier to innovation and the effective use of AI. We explore the "five Rs" of legacy transformation and learn how Through Technology is helping government organizations not just move their data, but truly unlock its value.

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Ever wonder why government regulations are so complex? What if they didn't have to be? In this premiere episode of The DigiGov Podcast, we sit down with Richard South, the CEO of TSO, to explore a massive idea: transforming regulatory information from static documents into dynamic data. Richard explains how this shift is critical for business growth and reveals how AI is fundamentally changing the way we access information. We also discuss TSO's role in this digital transformation and why in-person events like DigiGov remain vital.

Subscribe to The DigiGov Podcast on your favorite podcast platform so you don't miss our next episode.