IT Essentials: The baby and the banker

The curious case of Rishi Sunak, technologist

New beginnings aren’t limited to parenthood; Rishi Sunak is putting out his own fresh shoots in California.

Around this time last year, I wrote a difficult editorial about loss. This year, I’m covering something very different.

In August my wife and I welcomed our son to the world. He arrived early via an emergency C-section, and the subsequent weeks in hospital were hard on all of us. However, he has since come home and both he and my wife are doing remarkably well.

Just as last year, my company was incredibly supportive, and the Computing editorial team covered my absence at our busiest time of year with aplomb. I’m not actually sure I was missed at all, which is both encouraging and a little disheartening.

Every day brings a new development for our boy, whether it’s moving his head without support, a social smile, or his tolerance for being dressed up as a pumpkin (a totally normal thing to do).

The birth of your first child is traditionally when parents get the revolutionary spark to clean up the world, but as I’m already fairly outspoken in that way I see no reason to change. So, let's get to it.

My son isn’t the only one trying on a new outfit recently. Former PM Rishi Sunak has finally done what was widely predicted and swapped his suit and tie for a hoody, taking on an advisory role for Microsoft and Anthropic, in addition to his political work and consultancy role at Goldman Sachs.

What does the new MP for Richmond, Northallerton and Redmond bring to the tech table – aside from familial links to massive IT consultancy Infosys, a direct line to contacts in Parliament and knowledge of the internal workings of the modern UK state?

It would be easy to criticise the appointment, and many have, but I actually think it’s a smart move for both parties, and more importantly for the UK. Microsoft and Anthropic gain someone used to thinking in terms of geopolitics, where they increasingly operate, and Sunak – who oversaw the founding of the AI Safety (now Security) Institute – gets some influence over internal policy.

Whether he’ll actually make a difference or become another Nick Clegg remains to be seen.

As well as snagging a former Prime Minister, Microsoft will be gratified to see that Azure is the most popular cloud for deploying AI services among UK IT leaders. John Leonard dives into the data. We’ve also looked at where IT leaders are implementing automation - with a big win for security and business processes, but comparatively little use in more finnicky or human-centric areas like legal and HR.

In Denmark, dermatology specialist LEO Pharma is betting that algorithms and open innovation, rather than closed, siloed research, will define the future of its business. I talked to head of innovation Lars Erik Kristensen to learn how AI is not only deciding who is competitive in this area, but who can compete – full stop.

And we’ve been looking at the hype around AI investment – as have the IMF, Bank of England and Deutsche Bank. It doesn’t make for pretty reading.