News
24th March 2026
Sunderland City Council hosted a UK-first event at City Hall this month (March 2026) bringing together digital leaders from the public and private sectors to discuss opportunities for AI in cities.
AI CityXchange is a new workshop series run by the leading smart cities publication SmartCitiesWorld. Around 50 senior-level attendees convened for a lively, inspiring one-day workshop which featured several keynote speeches and breakout sessions.
Commenting on the event, Sunderland City Council’s Director of Smart Cities and Enabling Services, Liz St Louis, said:
“This was an inspiring day. With a roomful of the UK’s leading policymakers, city practitioners and partners, it was a chance for Sunderland and the wider North East region to be at the heart of conversations about innovations in AI and data analytics. We’ve come away from the workshop reinspired and ready to make further impact.”
When it comes to the potential uses of AI in the UK’s public services, the technology is already beginning to transform contact centres, social care workflows, transport, policing, and multi‑agency collaboration. Thank you to speakers from local and combined authorities—including Sunderland City Council—who brought this to life, showing how AI is improving services by creating faster responses and better deployment of resources. They also highlighted the biggest barriers, such as the quality of data and the significant resources required for data modelling, and how these can be mitigated in future.
The North East is rapidly establishing itself as a national AI leadership region. And there’s strong cause for it to be under the spotlight, according to speaker Jamie Hardesty of the North East AI Growth Zone. He explained how it boasts strong digital infrastructure and assets, such as two major data centres, and has a solid baseline for skills, innovation and AI uptake.
A key theme from the event was the need for AI to be adopted responsibly in order to earn trust and create impact. Currently, pilot projects are taking place in many areas of public services. But how can cities scale successful pilots, and ensure a positive impact without leaving people behind or overstepping on their data?
In practical terms, while the potential benefits to residents and communities are huge, the journey to deployment is long and complex. According to Robin Denton, Director for Local Public Services at Microsoft—sponsors of AI CityXchange—AI transformation must be seen through four lenses: employee experience, citizen engagement, business processes, and innovation. The adoption journey will be long and phased, starting with employees using personal AI assistants, while later humans will set direction and AI agents will run processes end-to-end.
Liz St Louis added:
“It’s clear that discussions have provided a lot of reassurance: many digital leaders feel they’re behind on the AI journey, but the workshop has shown how we’re all facing similar challenges, and even AI leaders are learning every day. We’ve all come such a long way on an even longer journey.”
Sunderland City Council would like to thank all the AI CityXchange attendees, the organisers at SmartCitiesWorld, and sponsors Microsoft. We believe the future of smart cities lies in collaboration and community, with knowledge-sharing events such as being vital for bringing together leaders and inspiring positive change.
Find out more about innovations happening across the smart city of Sunderland.