Kanishka Narayan, the UK’s new AI minister, will attend cabinet for the first time on Tuesday — but his promotion comes at a cost. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), created by the previous Conservative government in 2023, has been abolished, its responsibilities split among other departments. The move means there is no longer a dedicated technology secretary, a role most recently held by Liz Kendall until she was sacked by Prime Minister Andy Burnham.
Narayan, appointed by Sir Keir Starmer, described the invitation to cabinet as a “sign of his deep commitment to AI’s importance.” The minister, born in India and raised in Cardiff, entered Parliament in 2024 as MP for the Vale of Glamorgan. He previously served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, overseeing AI opportunities, the AI Security Institute, semiconductors and online safety. He is expected to continue shepherding some of those briefs, though now without Kendall’s leadership.
“AI minister Kanishka Narayan gets cabinet seat as DSIT scrapped, removing dedicated tech secretary role.”
In the early hours of Tuesday, Narayan wrote on X: “AI is likely the most significant technology in human history. Its impact will dwarf other things. The best case for it is compelling beyond our dreams: a reindustrialised Britain, stronger national security, public services transformed for the better.” But he acknowledged the technology “also poses real risks to the public,” adding “it is right that the British public shares those worries, for jobs, for the pace of change.”
Dom Hallas, head of the tech trade body Startup Coalition, said that with the dismantling of DSIT, the government must “not take the foot off the pedal” with tech. The previous department had provided good foundations, he said, and the priority now should be spreading AI adoption through government and the wider public. “The abolition of DSIT is clearly a bad thing but if anyone could make up for it in Cabinet it would be Kanishka who knows start-ups and the ecosystem better than anyone in Government,” Hallas told the BBC.
Professor Gina Neff, head of the Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy at the University of Cambridge, noted that the minister faces multiple policy challenges, the most pressing being how society deals with the threat of AI replacing jobs. However, she said elevating an AI minister to cabinet at least sent a signal that the Prime Minister was “serious about having someone serious in this key role.”
The reshuffle leaves Narayan with a seat at the top table, but no dedicated department — and a to-do list that includes semiconductors, online safety, and the AI Security Institute. How he navigates the absence of a technology secretary may define whether Britain’s AI ambitions accelerate or stall.