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Tag: AI

Stealth Labs: Real AI solutions for the public sector, without the slideware

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Artificial intelligence is rapidly redefining what is technically possible across government, defence, and national infrastructure. Yet for many public sector organisations, the way AI is procured and delivered has barely changed. Expensive feasibility studies and months of presentations often stand between an idea and something that actually works.

Stealth Labs – a new Bramble Hub partner – is setting out to change that.

Founded by former Microsoft AI solutions engineers, Stealth Labs is a young company with a clear and unapologetic focus: delivering working AI systems for the public sector, quickly, confidently, and without the traditional consultancy overhead.

From Microsoft to Stealth Labs

The founders of Stealth Labs are Sammy Harris and Steve Chan, both of whom previously worked as AI Solutions Engineers at Microsoft. In those roles, they supported public sector customers across defence, national security, health, and wider government, helping teams take ideas from early concepts through to production-ready systems.

At Microsoft, the founders’ work was grounded in strong software engineering fundamentals, combined with a practical understanding of where AI can genuinely add value. This often meant using AI to understand undocumented legacy applications, embedding AI into existing systems, or designing entirely new services – always with a focus on real-world outcomes rather than experimentation for its own sake.

That experience shaped the way Stealth Labs now operates. Rather than treating AI as a bolt-on or a theoretical exercise, it is used as a tool to accelerate understanding, reduce risk, and enable faster decision-making.

A prototype-first approach to AI delivery

“We want to get away from slideware. We’re not a consultancy that spends six months and half a million pounds just to get to a prototype.”

One of the clearest themes to emerge from Stealth Labs’ work is a rejection of “slideware”. Instead of charging for months of ideation, workshops, and documentation, Stealth Labs builds working prototypes and proofs-of-concept upfront.

When a customer asks whether something is possible, the answer is rarely a presentation. It is a working system.

By using AI to rapidly reverse-engineer legacy applications, explore architectural options, and test ideas in practice, Stealth Labs can give public sector teams confidence early. This approach dramatically reduces both cost and risk, and allows informed decisions to be made in weeks rather than months.

The result is a delivery model that feels fundamentally different to traditional consultancy. Customers are not paying to find out if something might work: they start the project knowing that it does.

Solving real public sector problems

“If you approach the problem from an AI-centric point of view, it’s not whether it can be done – it can be done. It’s about getting enough knowledge to make informed decisions.”

Stealth Labs’ work focuses on practical, high-impact challenges faced by government organisations.

One example is a document intelligence solution designed to tackle the growing risk and inefficiency of large SharePoint estates. Many public sector organisations hold vast quantities of unstructured data across documents, spreadsheets, and PDFs, often with limited visibility of what information is held where.

The solution automatically ingests and normalises documents, applies AI to identify risks such as sensitive or inappropriate content, and enables users to securely query their organisation’s data through a conversational interface. The outcome is improved governance, reduced duplication, and significantly better use of existing information.

Another area of focus is predictive AI: Stealth Labs has developed a forecasting platform capable of analysing complex datasets to predict future locations, events, or outcomes. This has applications across areas such as transport, border operations, and national security, where timely insight can make a material difference to decision-making.

In both cases, the emphasis is not on novelty, but on delivering systems that public sector teams can actually use and own.

Why public sector only?

“Our focus is 100% public sector. It’s what we know, and it’s where we know we can do good work.”

Stealth Labs’ exclusive focus on the public sector is deliberate. Both founders have strong experience in the sector, and Sammy has spent more than a decade as a civil servant, so understands how procurement works from the inside.

That experience brings a clear motivation: delivering better value for taxpayers while enabling public sector teams to move faster. Rather than embedding large teams on long-running engagements, Stealth Labs aims to deliver, transfer knowledge, and leave customers with systems they can maintain themselves.

Ultimately, the ambition goes even further. As AI tools continue to mature, the long-term goal is to reduce dependency on external suppliers altogether, enabling public sector organisations to take ideas to production independently.

A different future for AI delivery

“We’re already reducing overhead for the public sector – and the end goal is that they don’t even need us anymore.”

Stealth Labs represents a growing shift in how AI can be delivered to government – one that prioritises speed, confidence, and real outcomes over process and presentation.

By combining deep public sector experience with a prototype-first mindset, the team is demonstrating that meaningful AI delivery does not need to be slow, risky, or prohibitively expensive.

For organisations under pressure to do more with less, that difference matters.

From potholes to social care: how AI and big data are revolutionising UK local government

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For the average citizen, the concept of government is rarely defined by debates in Westminster. Instead, it is defined by the daily reality of their local environment: Is the recycling collected on time? Are the roads free of potholes? Can I easily apply for a parking permit? Is my elderly parent receiving the care they need?

Local authorities are the engine room of the UK public sector. They deliver the services that people use day in and day out. Consequently, the most regular interactions with government are through their local council. In an era of instant gratification and seamless digital consumer experiences, public expectations for these services are rightly high.

However, the reality for many councils is a struggle against friction: they are often tied to legacy infrastructure that cannot keep pace with modern demands. Despite these limitations, a quiet revolution is taking place. Across the UK, forward-thinking councils are demonstrating the immense power of digital innovation, leveraging Big Data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to deliver better outcomes for residents.

From predictive analytics preventing homelessness to robots repairing roads, the sector is moving from a reactive stance to a proactive one, potentially unlocking billions in productivity gains.

The move from reaction to prevention in infrastructure

One of the most visible applications of AI in the public sector is in the management of physical infrastructure. Traditionally, council maintenance has been reactive, waiting for a resident to report a problem before fixing it. New technologies are flipping this model on its head.

In Hertfordshire, the County Council is pioneering a futuristic approach to a centuries-old problem: road maintenance. Collaborating with the University of Liverpool, they have developed an autonomous robot capable of identifying and repairing road damage before potholes even form. By using AI to analyse road surface data, the robot creates a preventative maintenance cycle that saves money on costly major repairs and saves drivers from the frustration of damaged vehicles.

Similarly, in London, the challenge of fly-tipping and street cleanliness is being tackled with machine learning. Westminster City Council has deployed the ReportIT service, which allows residents to snap a photo of street issues. The system quickly identifies fly-tipping and other hazards from the images, categorising the job and dispatching crews. This significantly reduces the administrative burden on staff and ensures that streets stay cleaner. This, in turn, can produce further benefits for civic pride and public safety.

Meanwhile, Northumberland County Council is using data to battle the elements. Their Flood AI system provides early flood warnings by analysing complex environmental data sets. At a time of deep concern over climate instability, this use of big data doesn’t just save money; it protects property and lives by giving residents and emergency services more time to prepare.

Transforming social care and vulnerable support

While infrastructure improvements are highly visible, the most profound impact of Big Data and AI lies in social care and the protection of vulnerable residents. This area consumes the vast majority of local authority budgets, and it is here that efficiency gains can have the most human impact.

North Yorkshire Council provides a compelling roadmap for the sector. They are utilising AI to assist social care workers in managing the deluge of case notes, forms, and assessments required in their daily work. By summarising and organising this data, AI frees up social workers to do what they entered the profession to do: spend time with families and children. This is a beneficial efficiency in a sector facing chronic staffing shortages; technology is not replacing the human element, but rather removing the administrative barriers that are a drain on staff.

Data is also being used to safeguard physical health within the home. In a scaled deployment across a number of London boroughs, sensors have been installed in social housing to monitor environmental conditions. These Internet of Things (IoT) devices feed data back to councils, allowing them to identify conditions conducive to damp and mould before they pose a health risk to tenants. This proactive approach – driven by the tragic necessity to improve housing standards – ensures that swift action can be taken, protecting both the asset and the health of the resident.

The power of predictive analytics

Perhaps the most transformative application of Big Data is the ability to predict crises before they happen. The collaboration between Maidstone Borough Council and Kent County Council serves as a gold standard for this approach. By developing a platform that analyses various data points, they can predict the risk of homelessness months in advance.

This insight allows the councils to intervene early with support and guidance, preventing the catastrophic loss of housing. The results speak for themselves: the initiative has contributed to reductions in homelessness of up to 40%.

Accessibility is another frontier being conquered by AI. Swindon Borough Council is using generative AI to make complex government documents accessible for people with learning disabilities. Their Simply Readable solution converts dense official text into an easy-read format, helping people that might be excluded by language or literacy issues.

The £45 billion opportunity

These examples do not yet represent the norm in local government. However, they represent ideas that are ready to evolve and be spread to every region in the UK.

The economic case for scaling these technologies is undeniable. The government’s State of Digital Government Review identified a staggering £45 billion per year of unrealised productivity benefits across the public sector. A substantial portion of this potential sits within local government.

By harnessing the power of data, UK councils are proving that they can do more than just keep the lights on; they can build a smarter, safer, and more empathetic public service for everyone. These technologies are no longer a futuristic concept – they are here, working, and ready to scale.