Posted on: 13/11/2025

Thought Leadership

AI isn’t about shiny tools — it’s about people, culture, and confidence. Local government doesn’t need more hype, it needs shared learning. The Festival of AI in Practice will spotlight real stories from councils using AI with purpose, collaboration, and care — proving that transformation is built from the ground up, not bought in.

By Michelle O’Neill, Principal Consultant Organisational Development, Leadeship and Learning at West Midlands Employers

You’d have to be hiding under a rock not to have noticed the noise around AI right now. But here’s the harder question: beyond the hype, what actually matters for us, our services, and our communities?

Big promises. Big fears. Big questions. And yet, in local government, we know better than to get swept up in the headlines. We’ve learned — sometimes the hard way — that transformation isn’t about shiny new tools, it’s about real people, real services, and real outcomes.

We’ve seen transformation talked about many times before. We’ve navigated change fatigue, funding constraints, restructures and redesigns. So when the latest wave of disruption comes - this time wearing an algorithm - it’s no wonder many of us feel curious, cautious… or just completely overwhelm. The real question is: how do we turn that mix of feelings into meaningful action?

Most of us are asking the same thing:

What’s real? What’s useful? And where on earth do we start? And perhaps most importantly: how do we start together, so no one is left behind?

This is one ‘tech thing’ that doesn’t just sit with IT. Wherever we sit in the organisation, whatever our role, service or seniority, we’re being asked to explore AI, redesign with it, embrace it, and reshape ourselves around it. We know tech and human will increasingly work side by side. But how that happens? That’s the part we’re all figuring out together.

Right now, for some the conversation is being led by IT and digital teams (brilliantly), in others by procurement or transformation leads (understandably), and in others… not really at all.

But we believe the next stage of this journey isn’t just about tools. It’s about culture, confidence and readiness. That puts the people and Organisational Development space right at the heart of the work. Because this isn’t just about plugging in tech, let’s be clear, successful AI adoption won’t be defined by what we buy, but by how we behave It’s about:

• Creating space for safe experimentation
• Building the mindset to try (and try again)
• Supporting leadership teams to balance ambition and governance
• And helping people feel like they’re part of the change, not subject to it

We need stories not sales pitches

That’s why we’re building the Festival of AI in Practice for January. It’s going to be a week-long, practical, virtual event for our shareholder member councils. A week where councils will share the real work they’re already doing with AI, from small pilots to ambitious shifts in service delivery. Because leadership here doesn’t come from theory — it comes from lived experience.

Some of it will be smart. Some of it will be scrappy. All of it will be shared in the spirit of learning.

The most powerful insights won’t come from Silicon Valley — they’ll come from Solihull, Sandwell, Staffordshire and beyond. The most useful thing we can do isn’t just look up to the experts, but sideways to each other.

Someone else has already tested that chatbot. Someone else has already done the ethics deep dive. Someone else has already faced resistance and found a way through. Let’s make space to share that learning.

Quite frankly, we don’t have the time or the money to duplicate unnecessarily.

                     

Looking to gain confidence and an understanding of AI and how to use it in your service area?

Join us at the Festival of AI, a free, virtual week-long event showcasing real-world AI stories from councils.

From improving services and reducing admin to triaging citizen contacts and speeding up processes, this festival is all about practical impact, not jargon.

Find out more and get your Festival Pass now.

Find out more