UK elevates AI brief to cabinet with Kanishka Narayan appointment

UK prime minister Andy Burnham has appointed Kanishka Narayan as AI minister and raised the post to cabinet level for the first time. The move gives AI a direct seat in the government’s main decision-making forum, a signal to founders, investors and policy teams that the brief is being separated from a broader technology portfolio.

Narayan, a former venture capitalist who became an MP in Wales, had been serving since September last year as a junior minister responsible for both AI and online safety. Some critics had argued that combined remit was too broad. His new job is focused on AI and will sit across the newly created Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade and the Cabinet Office.

No budget, headcount or specific policy mandate for the upgraded role was disclosed. The immediate change is structural: AI policy now has a cabinet-level minister attached to it, rather than sitting as one part of a junior ministerial brief.

A narrower AI role

The appointment comes during a Burnham reshuffle that has changed the machinery around UK technology policy. Liz Kendall, Narayan’s former boss and the technology secretary, was removed from government, according to Sifted. Narayan’s promotion therefore gives continuity to one figure known to parts of the UK tech sector while the surrounding departmental setup changes.

For companies selling into government, AI labs dealing with regulation and investors tracking UK industrial policy, the practical question is whether cabinet status translates into clearer decisions. The announcement does not by itself answer that. It does, however, reduce the ambiguity created by a ministerial role that previously had to cover both AI and online harms, two areas with different stakeholders, policy risks and commercial pressures.

The UK is not alone in creating a senior political role for AI. France and Canada have both set up comparable positions in recent years. The UK’s version now places the minister in cabinet discussions, which may matter as AI policy cuts across trade, research, procurement, safety and public-sector adoption.

Tech sector reaction

Narayan is well regarded by many in the technology sector, according to Sifted. Matt Clifford, a former government AI adviser, welcomed the appointment on X, writing: “Fantastic to have Kanishka attending Cabinet as AI minister.” Clifford said Narayan “understands the scale and opportunity” and had brought “great energy and clarity” to the role over the past year.

That endorsement is notable because Clifford has been close to UK AI policy. It is also only one public reaction. The government has not disclosed how the new ministerial role will divide responsibilities with the new business, innovation, science and trade department, or how it will handle online safety work that was previously part of Narayan’s remit.

The appointment gives Burnham a cleaner AI line in cabinet at a time when governments are trying to balance industry growth, public-sector use and safety concerns. For the UK tech sector, the test will be whether the promotion produces faster policy execution or just a more senior title.

This story draws on original reporting from Sifted.