Designing the future council: digital foundations for stability and change

Local authorities are under sustained pressure to maintain frontline services while navigating financial constraints, organisational change and rising citizen expectations.

In our recent webinar in partnership with Microsoft experts Avanade - Designing the Future Council: Digital Foundations for Stability and Change - leaders from local government and industry explored how digital, data and emerging AI capabilities are being deployed to manage that tension.

The discussion highlighted a shift from isolated digital initiatives towards more systemic approaches focused on resilience, data foundations and long-term sustainability.

Maintaining services through change

For local government, the immediate challenge is maintaining continuity while transformation is underway. Ade Bamigboye, Chief Technology Officer at the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, framed this as balancing operational stability with incremental change across both internal teams and residents.

He emphasised the importance of minimising disruption and avoiding “change fatigue” among users and staff, particularly where agile delivery introduces continuous updates. Digital tools, automation and workflow technologies are already supporting this by reducing manual effort in clearly defined processes, especially in high-volume services such as adult and children’s care.

However, Bamigboye cautioned against over-reliance on immature technologies in critical services. “I don’t think that works. When you talk about early AI capabilities and essential services, I think essential services are too important to leave to chance,” he said.

At Richmond and Wandsworth Councils, Sam Olsen, Executive Director for Change and Innovation, described a dual-track approach that combines longer-term service redesign with continuous improvement of existing systems. Rather than large-scale transformation programmes alone, they are using incremental changes to relieve frontline pressure, for example through automation at the “front door” of services.

Olsen also argued that AI should not be treated as a standalone capability. “We should stop thinking and talking about AI as if it’s a tool or a product that we can turn on and off,” she said. Instead, it is increasingly embedded within core systems and workflows.

From an industry perspective, Stuart Bradshaw, UK Health and Public Service Strategy Lead at Avanade, pointed to large-scale programmes such as NHS collaboration platforms, where AI-enabled automation has supported service continuity without increasing operational overheads. Embedding these capabilities into processes, rather than layering them on top, has been key.

Building trusted and shared data foundations

All three panellists identified data as the critical enabler of transformation, but also one of the most complex barriers.

Bamigboye described the current state of local government data as highly fragmented, with systems, suppliers and data ownership distributed across organisations. While the long-term ambition is to build integrated data platforms with strong governance, he acknowledged that many councils lack the resources or maturity to achieve this quickly.

Instead, his approach combines long-term strategy with short-term pragmatism. Councils must identify priority use cases, locate the relevant data, and build tactical integrations where needed, even if imperfect, while continuing to develop a more strategic architecture.

Olsen highlighted the organisational dimension of this challenge. At Richmond and Wandsworth, progress has depended on shifting from siloed data ownership towards shared views of residents. She described how a crisis response created the conditions for change, enabling multiple services to collaborate around a single dataset.

The impact was both operational and experiential. “The fact they didn’t have to keep telling their story ensured that we had a much better service that we were able to provide them” .

Bradshaw reinforced the need to start building data foundations early, even without a fully defined end state. He argued that organisations should begin collecting and structuring data incrementally, rather than waiting for a complete strategy. “The best time to plant a tree is yesterday,” he said.

This approach enables organisations to understand their data landscape, build capability, and prepare for more advanced analytics and AI use cases over time.

Aligning culture and ways of working

Alongside technology and data, cultural change emerged as a decisive factor in successful transformation.

Olsen emphasised the importance of creating a “test and learn” environment where teams can experiment safely. This includes building psychological safety so that failure is seen as part of progress rather than a risk to be avoided. Without this, organisations struggle to adopt new tools and ways of working at pace.

She also highlighted the need to challenge internal benchmarks. Residents increasingly compare council services with private sector experiences, raising expectations for responsiveness and usability.

Bradshaw echoed the importance of trust, both organisational and individual. Cultural change cannot be imposed in the same way as technology deployment he argued. “There's a trust building aspect, both at a corporate level and a personal journey for each of us needing to build trust, particularly with technology like AI. It depends on your personality and your exposure to all sorts of factors. You just need to give people some time,” he said, noting that over-promising on outcomes can undermine confidence if early results fall short.

Bamigboye described a more structured approach through change management frameworks focused on individual readiness. This includes building awareness of why change is needed, addressing resistance, and ensuring staff have the skills and confidence to adopt new systems. Crucially, he noted the need for reinforcement to prevent regression to previous ways of working.

Prioritising investment for long-term sustainability

Looking ahead, the panel agreed that digital and data investment must be closely tied to financial sustainability.

Olsen pointed to predictive analytics as a key opportunity. By identifying future demand, for example in adult social care, councils can intervene earlier and reduce long-term costs. This shift towards prevention represents a significant change in how services are designed and funded.

Bamigboye highlighted the potential for greater collaboration between councils to achieve scale. Shared investment in service design and technology could reduce duplication and improve efficiency, particularly where services are broadly consistent across authorities.

Bradshaw stressed the importance of linking technology investment to operating models and outcomes. Organisations should focus on what capabilities they need to deliver differently, rather than on specific tools: “If we’re doing technology for technology’s sake, then we’re missing the point”.

This requires a shift in how business cases are developed, moving away from fixed end-state planning towards iterative investment tied to measurable outcomes.

From transformation to resilience

The discussion reflects a growing recognition that digital transformation in local government is no longer optional or discrete. It is central to maintaining service continuity, improving outcomes and achieving financial sustainability.

Success depends on aligning three elements. Stable digital and data foundations, organisational cultures that support change, and investment strategies focused on long-term value.

Councils that can bring these together are better positioned not only to manage current pressures, but to design services that are resilient to future change.

Event partner Avanade are offering a free two-hour practical workshop to help your council stabilise services, prioritise digital and data foundations, and plan for change without disrupting delivery.

Click here to request your workshop.