Lord Vallance to deliver keynote at major London conference on Monday 18th May, exploring the practical actions that need to be taken to transform working lives for good

Leading figures from government, industry, unions, research and design will gather at the IET on The Strand on Monday for Making the Future Work - a major conference tackling one of the defining questions of our time: how can the power of AI be coupled with human skills and capabilities to transform working lives for good?

Making the Future Work: (https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1981715770215?aff=oddtdtcreator)

As AI adoption accelerates across the economy, the event will bring together senior voices from policy, technology, worker representation, education, productivity, design and the creative industries to explore how new technologies can be adopted in ways that don’t just boost productivity, but also enhance opportunities for good work, and support a flourishing society.

The conference, convened by the Institute for the Future of Work (IFOW), will feature a keynote address from Lord Patrick Vallance, Minister of State for Science, Innovation and Technology.

Speakers confirmed include Phil Smith CBE, Chair of Skills England; Mary Jones OBE, Director of AI Strategy and Preparedness at DSIT; Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE, Chair of Stemettes and Co-lead on the Women in Tech Taskforce; Bart van Ark, Managing Director of The Productivity Institute; Jonathan Reekie CBE, Director of Somerset House Trust; Sana Khareghani, CSO of Era4 and AI Policy Lead for Responsible AI UK; Cat Drew, Chief Design Officer at the Design Council; Professor John Amaechi OBE, psychologist at APS Intelligence and member of the GLA AI and Jobs Taskforce; Kate Bell, Assistant General Secretary at the TUC; and Anna Ganley, CEO of the Society of Authors.

The event will examine some of the most urgent issues facing the UK as AI reshapes work, including workers’ rights, AI sovereignty, skills, institutional resilience, regional inequality, democratic accountability and the importance of people-centred work design.

Across the day, contributors will address four core challenges:

The Adoption Challenge: How practically can we centre people and society in the design, development, and deployment of these incredible new technologies?

The Transitions Challenge: How can we help people to navigate work transitions more successfully to access good jobs?

The Institutions Challenge: How can we renew regional innovation ecosystems and build the capabilities of institutions to tackle the structural inequalities polarising access to good work?

The Accountability Challenge: How can we ensure that new technologies don’t just transform working lives for good, but also lead to a flourishing society and a healthier democracy?

Dr Abby Gilbert, Co-Director at IFOW, said:

“AI is already changing the way people work, the skills they need, and the choices facing employers, policymakers and workers. The question now is not whether work will change, but how we can actively design those changes to transform working lives for good and support a fairer, more flourishing society. Now is the time to move beyond hype and speculation to ask, ‘what practical actions can we take to make the future work?’

Journalists are invited to attend.

Event details

What: Making the Future Work

When: Monday 18th May

Where: IET London, Savoy Place, The Strand, London

Keynote: Lord Patrick Vallance, Minister of State, DSIT

Media attendance: Places available for journalists. Register using this link, and code MtFWPress. Or contact:

Phoebe Griffiths, phoebe.griffiths@ifow.org

Notes to editors

IFOW is an independent research and development institute dedicated to transforming working lives for good, co-founded by former employment barrister Anna Thomas MBE, Nobel prize-winning economist Sir Christopher Pissarides, and technologist Naomi Climer CBE.

Tags

More Like This

IFOW Co-Director Dr Abigail Gilbert joins Expert Panel of new cross-government AI and the Future of Work Unit

Prime Minister sets out blueprint to turbocharge AI

AI at Work Is a People Challenge, Not a Tech One — New CIPD-Backed Case Studies Reveal

The future of work isn’t predetermined by technologies, it is shaped by institutions

UK to champion how AI can supercharge growth, unlock new jobs and improve public services at AI Impact Summit in India

From AI Breakthroughs to Bottom-Line Impact: The AI Summit London Returns as UK’s Leading Event for Artificial Intelligence

Lord Vallance calls on tech experts to design ways to help reduce electricity bills

The AI Summit London Unveils 10th Anniversary Speaker Line-Up Featuring Global Leaders in Enterprise AI