Kanishka Narayan elevated to UK cabinet-level AI role

Kanishka Narayan has been made the UK government’s minister for AI with attendance at cabinet meetings, a promotion that puts the brief closer to the center of Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s new administration. The move comes as Burnham removes the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology as a standalone department and folds much of the science and tech agenda into a wider business portfolio.

Narayan had previously served as a junior minister covering AI and online safety. In a post on X, he said the prime minister had asked him to attend cabinet as minister for AI and described the decision as evidence of the government’s commitment to the technology. He also said AI was likely to be “the most significant technology in human history” and that its impact would exceed that of other technologies.

The government did not disclose new funding, staffing levels or specific policy powers attached to Narayan’s elevated role. For the UK tech sector, the immediate signal is institutional rather than financial: AI gets cabinet access, while the dedicated department created to cover science, innovation and technology loses its standalone status.

DSIT folded into a broader business brief

Jonathan Reynolds has been appointed secretary of state for business, innovation, science and trade. The new department combines the Department for Business and Trade with DSIT, though some DSIT responsibilities have also been sent to other parts of government.

Reynolds previously led the Department for Business and Trade in 2024 before moving to another role a year later. His return places business, innovation, science and trade under one secretary of state at a time when founders and investors have been watching whether the government would preserve a dedicated institutional home for tech policy.

Reports that DSIT could be removed as a standalone department had drawn pushback from parts of the tech community before the reshuffle. The concern is straightforward for the sector: a dedicated department can provide a clearer point of contact for policy on AI, research, digital regulation and commercialization. A larger combined department may align industrial strategy and tech policy more closely, but the government has not set out how the redistributed responsibilities will work in practice.

Senior science and tech figures leave

Liz Kendall, who had led DSIT, has stepped down from the role. Peter Kyle, who had led the Department for Business and Trade, has also left his post.

In her resignation statement, Kendall appeared to caution against weakening the government’s science and technology focus. She said the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics showed science and technology were central drivers of UK economic growth, and said the country needed to maintain that momentum to create future jobs and businesses across the UK. She added that supporting the UK’s tech sector was necessary to build “a modern Britain for a modern age.”

Lord Patrick Vallance has also resigned as science minister ahead of the reshuffle. Vallance said he was stepping down for personal reasons after nearly a decade in government, having served as chief scientific adviser and later as science minister and minister for nuclear.

The reshuffle leaves the UK with a cabinet-attending AI minister but without a standalone DSIT. For technology companies, the practical test will be whether the new structure speeds decisions on AI and science policy or diffuses accountability across a broader department.

This story draws on original reporting from Tech.eu.