Ben Welby's Blog

Earlier this week I was having a conversation about data centres, AI, and the fairly febrile state of mind surrounding both of them at the moment.

A note before you go further: I’ve supported men’s health through Movember for years, and I’m conscious that this piece plays deliberately with a word that describes something devastatingly real.

Last week A-level results dropped.

When the first briefings appeared over the weekend about abolishing the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), I decided to wait.

On Thursday 9th July 2026 I sat in the audience for the launch of Mind’s Mental Health in the Age of AI Commission.

There are some jobs you leave because the evening has ended.

About a year ago I wrote about Vibe Coding, Fireworks and the Mortar of Government, back when I was first getting excited by the new art of the possible.

A report that should arrest us This morning Alan Milburn launched the Young people and work interim report.

I am sorry about the title.

Last June I wrote a reflection on how vibe coding had made it possible to create some fireworks that helped bring our vision for the future of public employment support to life.

Over the weekend I spent some time responding to the Home Office consultation (it closes in mid-February) on proposed changes to settlement and what it calls “earned residence”.

One of the first headlines I saw after Friday’s reshuffle came with a familiar and unsurprising tone.

So much of the current public discourse leaves me with a heavy heart, and Robert Jenrick’s recent interview with The Spectator is another depressing contribution.

Sometimes the best ideas are under our noses, just waiting to be noticed.

In this final post of the series, we arrive in the real world.

In Part 3, we looked at AI agents and the disappearing interface.

Part 2 took us underground, to the infrastructure that props up public services.

In Part 1, we questioned whether fitting government into our pockets offers real transformation, or just a sleeker surface.

The illusion of pocket-sized government Life in 2025 is mediated by thumbnails.

The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) is currently doing a piece of work to develop an omnichannel framework for public services across the EU.

A few days ago, I lit the fuse on a working prototype of a government service.