The Alan Turing Institute, Britain’s flagship center for artificial intelligence and data science, has announced a sweeping new mission to safeguard the UK from cyber-attacks and accelerate advances in environmental forecasting and healthcare. The move comes after months of internal turmoil, high-level resignations, and mounting government pressure for the state-funded body to sharpen its focus and deliver on its national promise.
On October 29, 2025, the Institute unveiled a science and innovation programme that marks a major strategic shift, zeroing in on three core areas: defence and national security, environment and sustainability, and health. These “high-impact missions,” as described by the Institute’s leadership, aim to translate cutting-edge AI and data science research into real-world solutions for some of the UK’s most pressing challenges.
The announcement follows the resignation of chief executive Dr. Jean Innes last month, after a staff revolt and calls from ministers for a fundamental overhaul of the organisation. Innes’s departure capped a turbulent period that saw the exit of three directors and the chief technology officer, as well as a whistleblower complaint filed with the Charity Commission alleging financial mismanagement and a toxic workplace culture. According to the BBC, the Institute’s chair, Dr. Doug Gurr, insisted the whistleblower claims were “independently investigated” by a third party and “found to have no substance.” “I fully sympathise that going through any transition is always challenging,” Gurr told the BBC. “It’s been challenging for a lot of people and a number of concerns have been raised. Every single one of those has been independently investigated and we’ve not found any substance.”
The Institute, named after the mathematical genius who cracked the Enigma code and laid the foundations for artificial intelligence, is now determined to put its resources and expertise behind a tightly defined set of national priorities. The reorganisation has not been without cost: Gurr confirmed that 78 research projects have been closed, spun out, or completed because they no longer align with the Institute’s new direction. The Institute currently employs 440 staff.
At the heart of the new programme is a mission to protect the UK’s critical national infrastructure—energy, transport, and utilities—from the growing threat of cyber-attacks. The urgency of this mission was underscored by recent incidents, including a global outage affecting Amazon’s cloud computing services and cyber-attacks that disrupted production at Jaguar Land Rover factories and supply chains at Marks & Spencer and the Co-op. The Institute’s leadership said it will “carry out a programme of science and innovation designed to protect the UK from hostile threats.”
To guide this effort, former RAF Air Commodore Blythe Crawford CBE, who recently commanded the UK’s Air & Space Warfare Centre, has been commissioned to advise the Institute’s board on how best to support government ambitions in defence, national security, and intelligence. Crawford’s recommendations are expected in November 2025. According to Think Digital Partners, the Institute will deepen collaboration with the defence and security communities both in the UK and internationally, advancing research in AI security, protective sensing, and strategic threat assessment.
Professor Mark Girolami, chief scientist at the Alan Turing Institute, explained the rationale behind the new direction: “Digital, Data, and AI technologies have huge transformative potential and as the national institute our purpose is to ensure they are adopted in ways that change our country for the better; in the hands of our public servants and critical industries, shaping better decisions, boosting productivity and growing our economy.” He added, “Our programme of science and innovation is designed to play to the UK’s strengths, developing specialist capabilities that make our society more secure, healthy and resilient.”
Environmental forecasting is another pillar of the Institute’s new strategy. The aim is to build sovereign capability for rapid, accurate prediction of changes in weather, oceans, and sea ice—tools that are vital for government emergency planners and for managing the risks associated with climate change. The Institute claims that its recent work has already delivered forecasts “tens of times faster…and using thousands of times less computing power” than traditional systems. By deploying AI in this domain, the Institute hopes to provide the UK with a decisive edge in disaster preparedness and climate resilience.
The sustainability mission is closely linked, targeting tangible emissions reductions across transportation networks, manufacturing processes, and critical infrastructure. The goal is to accelerate progress towards Net Zero, a target that has taken on increased urgency as the UK faces mounting pressure to meet its climate commitments. The Institute’s approach is to harness AI to identify and implement the most effective interventions, making a measurable difference in the nation’s carbon footprint.
In the realm of health, the Institute is pioneering the use of cardiac digital twins—virtual models of individual human hearts—to improve medical interventions and outcomes for critically ill cardiac patients. This builds on the first NHS trial of digital twin technology at scale, with the ambition to “save lives and money for the NHS while advancing the UK’s position in AI-driven healthcare innovation,” according to Think Digital Partners. The technology enables clinicians to simulate different treatment strategies and predict their outcomes, potentially revolutionising personalised medicine for heart disease.
The Institute’s transformation comes at a time when Britain’s vulnerability to cyber threats and the impacts of climate change are under intense scrutiny. Recent high-profile cyber-attacks and infrastructure failures have exposed weaknesses that adversaries could exploit. Meanwhile, the accelerating pace of climate change demands faster, more accurate forecasting and more effective mitigation strategies. The Alan Turing Institute’s new mission is a direct response to these challenges, seeking to leverage the UK’s strengths in AI and data science for the public good.
Despite the turbulence of the past year, the Institute’s leadership remains optimistic about the future. “I’m hugely excited to see what the Turing will achieve over the coming years, putting digital, data, and AI science and technologies to work for the benefit of all UK citizens,” Gurr said. The Charity Commission’s investigation into the whistleblower allegations is ongoing, but Gurr has given no indication that he plans to step down if issues are identified. The focus, he insists, is on delivering unique value for the UK and restoring trust in the Institute’s mission.
As the Alan Turing Institute embarks on this new chapter, its success or failure will have far-reaching implications—not just for the future of AI in Britain, but for the nation’s security, resilience, and well-being in a rapidly changing world.
