Idea to help benefits caseworkers make better decisions scoops Civil Service AI & Data Challenge prize
Idea will now be developed with £50,000 in tech support from NTT DATA after triumph in finale
An idea from a Department for Work and Pensions civil servant to develop a tool to help caseworkers make better decisions more quickly has won this year’s Civil Service AI & Data Challenge.
At the grand finale in Westminster, the Challenge’s four finalists pitched their ideas for improving government through the use of data and artificial intelligence to a panel of judges comprising top UK government digital and data leaders.
The winning idea, developed from a submission by DWP civil servant Marlon Woodley with a team of civil servants including officials from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the Crown Commercial Service, secured the prize of £50,000 (US$66,975) worth of digital product development from NTT DATA – a global leader in AI, digital business and IT services – to take the casework compliance assistant on the road to implementation.
The challenge is run by Global Government Forum in partnership with DSIT, the Cabinet Office, and NTT DATA.
The winning solution to an ongoing problem
The winning concept aims to provide compliance officers with AI guidance and support around data analysis, verification and the processing of benefits claims, which Woodley said would “enable caseworkers to make better decisions more quickly, reducing waiting times and ensuring that people receive the benefits they’re entitled to”.
The casework compliance assistant helps manage and reduce case complexity by highlighting key factors embedded in each case and flagging changes as a claimant’s circumstances change.
Applying this tool to large volumes of cases would allow teams to make better decisions, resolve outstanding cases faster and more consistently, and reduce the number of cases overall.
Ian Murray, the UK government minister for data and digital government who awarded the winning team their prize (left, announcing the winner), said: “Marlon’s standout idea has real potential to transform how government serves people. By giving caseworkers better tools, it could help them make faster, more accurate decisions and focus their time where it matters most – improving our public services.
“A record number of entries this year shows civil servants aren’t just ready for the AI revolution – they’re driving it. Congratulations to all the finalists: the collaboration across departments shows how we are putting AI and data to work at the heart of government.”
David Filmer, managing director, public sector at NTT DATA UK&I, added: “It’s been a huge privilege to work with civil servants across government on this year’s Civil Service AI & Data Challenge. Their commitment and enthusiasm – both for the Challenge itself, and for the wider data and AI agendas – have been amazing to see.
“We look forward to supporting the winning team as they carry their idea forwards, drawing on our topical and technical experts, and making use of their prize of £50,000 in tech support.”
The 2026 Challenge judges were: Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) permanent secretary Emran Mian; the UK government’s chief data officer Aimee Smith; chief artificial intelligence officer at the Government Digital Service Kalbir Sohi; chief data officer in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Sue Bateman; chief digital & information officer in the Ministry of Justice Group, Mark Thompson; HM Revenue & Customs chief digital and information officer Daljit Rehal, and David Filmer, chair of the judges and managing director, public sector, for Challenge knowledge partner NTT DATA UK&I.
A bumper year for the Challenge
The Civil Service AI & Data Challenge is now in its fourth year. This year’s challenge widened its scope to include AI as well as data, and it received 252 applications – an increase of 160% on the previous year.
Submissions were made from across departments, of which 70 of the best were examined in a series of workshops organised by data leaders. A shortlist of eight ideas were chosen, before the semi-finals whittled this number down to the final four.
The other finalists’ ideas comprised a fraudulent document detection tool nicknamed ‘Haldane’, submitted by Eric Edward, a trainee tax specialist at HMRC; an FOI request assistant put forward by Matthew Pickering, stakeholder engagement lead at the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero; and ‘Mycroft’, a tool for creating and testing policies against AI personas based on views and reactions from various demographics across the UK, submitted by Amish Sarpotdar, economic adviser, Department for Energy Security & Net Zero; Kiyoshi Bhuiyan, principal social researcher, social and behavioural energy research, Department for Energy Security & Net Zero; and George Griffiths, a data scientist at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
Speaking at the final, Aimee Smith, the UK’s chief data officer (left), said: “We were blown away by the level of interest in the Civil Service AI & Data Challenge this year. Civil servants are really excited about the ever-growing capabilities of AI and data technologies, and they can see huge opportunities to apply them in government – saving staff time and improving public services.”
She added: “The government has made clear its ambition of using AI to improve efficiency and create better public services: the Civil Service AI & Data Challenge has shown that civil servants have the expertise, enthusiasm and inventiveness required to make full use of these amazing technologies.”
Smith said the judges were really impressed by the quality of the teams’ work, and by their digital solutions – created in a few hours using AI-powered software engineering. “We look forward to helping all the finalists to realise the potential of their ideas. Congratulations to the winners, and thank you to everyone who sent in an idea or applied to join a team!”
Find out more about the Challenge and the four finalists’ ideas
About Jack Aldane
Jack is a British journalist, cartoonist and podcaster. He graduated from Heythrop College London in 2009 with a BA in philosophy, before living and working in China for three years as a freelance reporter. After training in financial journalism at City University from 2013 to 2014, Jack worked at Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters before moving into editing magazines on global trade and development finance. Shortly after editing opinion writing for UnHerd, he joined the independent think tank ResPublica, where he led a media campaign to change the health and safety requirements around asbestos in UK public buildings. As host and producer of The Booking Club podcast – a conversation series featuring prominent authors and commentators at their favourite restaurants – Jack continues to engage today’s most distinguished thinkers on the biggest problems pertaining to ideology and power in the 21st century. He joined Global Government Forum as its Senior Staff Writer and Community Co-ordinator in 2021.
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