techUK Paper – Mapping the Responsible AI Profession, A Field in Formation

techUK is proud to release its new paper examining the emerging class of Responsible AI (RAI) practitioners and their critical role in ensuring AI systems are developed and deployed ethically, safely, and fairly across the UK economy.

As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly adopted across sectors, RAI practitioners have emerged as essential human infrastructure to operationalise ethical principles and regulatory requirements. Our paper reveals that this professional field stands at a critical juncture - evolving from an emergent discipline into an essential organisational function, yet still defining its formal structure and boundaries.

The growing complexity of AI systems demands increasingly sophisticated governance approaches. Organisations recognise that effective responsible AI practice requires both dedicated expertise and distributed responsibility, with responsible AI practitioners often serving as orchestrators rather than sole owners of AI ethics and governance. However, three critical gaps currently undermine the effectiveness of responsible AI practitioners and threaten the UK's AI leadership ambitions:

The absence of clear role definitions and organisational placement

The lack of structured career pathways

The absence of standardised skills and training frameworks

These gaps create tangible business risks: inconsistent ethical implementation, potential regulatory non-compliance, reputation damage, and barriers to establishing stakeholder trust. They also threaten the broader economy by potentially hindering the UK's ability to establish leadership in responsible AI innovation and adoption.

Our paper maps the current state of the UK's RAI profession and provides a roadmap for cultivating the professional ecosystem necessary to ensure that AI development in the UK remains both innovative and aligned with our societal values and ethical standards.

Just as privacy experts became indispensable during the internet's expansion, responsible AI practitioners are now becoming the critical for the UK's AI future. By addressing these gaps, the UK can cultivate user trust, demonstrate regulatory readiness, and attract investment - building a foundation for adoption and confidence in AI.

This paper is part of techUK's ongoing commitment to supporting responsible innovation in AI. We extend our gratitude to our Digital Ethics Working Group and contributing organisations for their valuable insights and qualitative contributions.

Our paper shows that Responsible AI (RAI) practitioners are the essential human infrastructure upon which effective AI governance depends. Without these professionals to implement ethical principles and regulatory requirements, the UK's approach to AI regulation risks remaining merely an aspiration rather than a reality. As the UK works to increase AI adoption across the economy and develop a robust assurance ecosystem, as called for in recommendation 29 of the AI Opportunities Action Plan, we must focus on how to effectively develop, deploy and support RAI professionals. This paper provides a vital roadmap for cultivating the professional ecosystem necessary for the UK to achieve its dual ambition of AI leadership and ethical excellence.

Sue Daley OBE

Director of Tech and Innovation, techUK

If you have found this helpful and are interested to learn more, please contact our Programme Manager in Digital Ethics and AI Safety Programme Manager, Tess Buckley at [email protected]

Tess Buckley

Programme Manager - Digital Ethics and AI Safety, techUK

A digital ethicist and musician, Tess holds a MA in AI and Philosophy, specialising in ableism in biotechnologies. Their professional journey includes working as an AI Ethics Analyst with a dataset on corporate digital responsibility, followed by supporting the development of a specialised model for sustainability disclosure requests. Currently at techUK as programme manager in digital ethics and AI safety, Tess focuses on demystifying and operationalising ethics through assurance mechanisms and standards. Their primary research interests encompass AI music systems, AI fluency, and technology created by and for differently abled individuals. Their overarching goal is to apply philosophical principles to make emerging technologies both explainable and ethical.

Sue Daley OBE

Director, Technology and Innovation

Sue leads techUK's Technology and Innovation work.

This includes work programmes on cloud, data protection, data analytics, AI, digital ethics, Digital Identity and Internet of Things as well as emerging and transformative technologies and innovation policy.

In 2025, Sue was honoured with an Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to the Technology Industry in the New Year Honours List.

She has been recognised as one of the most influential people in UK tech by Computer Weekly's UKtech50 Longlist and in 2021 was inducted into the Computer Weekly Most Influential Women in UK Tech Hall of Fame.

A key influencer in driving forward the data agenda in the UK, Sue was co-chair of the UK government's National Data Strategy Forum until July 2024. As well as being recognised in the UK's Big Data 100 and the Global Top 100 Data Visionaries for 2020 Sue has also been shortlisted for the Milton Keynes Women Leaders Awards and was a judge for the Loebner Prize in AI. In addition to being a regular industry speaker on issues including AI ethics, data protection and cyber security, Sue was recently a judge for the UK Tech 50 and is a regular judge of the annual UK Cloud Awards.

Prior to joining techUK in January 2015 Sue was responsible for Symantec's Government Relations in the UK and Ireland. She has spoken at events including the UK-China Internet Forum in Beijing, UN IGF and European RSA on issues ranging from data usage and privacy, cloud computing and online child safety. Before joining Symantec, Sue was senior policy advisor at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). Sue has an BA degree on History and American Studies from Leeds University and a Masters Degree on International Relations and Diplomacy from the University of Birmingham. Sue is a keen sportswoman and in 2016 achieved a lifelong ambition to swim the English Channel.

Email:: [email protected]
Phone:: 020 7331 2055
Twitter:: @ChannelSwimSue,@ChannelSwimSue

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techUK - Seizing the AI Opportunity

The UK is a global leader in AI innovation, development and adoption. The economic growth and productivity gain that AI can unlock is vast, but to fully harness this transformative opportunity, immediate action is required. techUK and our members are committed to working with the Government to turn the AI Opportunities Action Plan into reality. Our aim is to ensure the UK seizes the opportunities presented by AI technology and continues to be a world leader in AI development.

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