Kanishka Narayan, the UK's AI minister, has been handed a seat at the cabinet table — but the department he once answered to no longer exists. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), created by the Conservative government in 2023, has been dismantled in a shake-up by new Prime Minister Andy Burnham.
The move means there is no longer a dedicated technology secretary, a role previously held by Liz Kendall until she was sacked by Burnham. Narayan, appointed by Sir Keir Starmer, said the prime minister inviting him to attend cabinet as minister for AI was a "sign of his deep commitment to AI's importance."
“Kanishka Narayan gets cabinet seat as AI minister, but DSIT is scrapped and technology secretary role axed.”
Born in India and raised in Cardiff, Narayan worked in government and business before entering Parliament in 2024 as the MP for Vale of Glamorgan. Under Starmer's government, his responsibilities spanned 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 is likely the most significant technology in human history. Its impact will dwarf other things," Narayan wrote on X early Tuesday. "The best case for it is compelling beyond our dreams: a reindustrialised Britain, stronger national security, public services transformed for the better." He added that AI also poses real risks to the public, and "it is right that the British public shares those worries, for jobs, for the pace of change."
Dom Hallas, head of tech trade body the Startup Coalition, said it was key that with the dismantling of DSIT, the government did "not take the foot off the pedal" with tech. "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 the minister faces multiple policy challenges, with one of the most pressing being how society deals with the threat of AI replacing jobs. But she said elevating an AI minister to cabinet at least sent a signal the prime minister was "serious about having someone serious in this key role."
With DSIT gone and no technology secretary in place, the question now is whether Narayan can deliver on the promise of a reindustrialised Britain without a dedicated department behind him.