4most appointed Secretariat of the Business AI Alliance

02 December 2025

3 minute read

We are excited to share that 4most have officially been appointed Secretariat of the recently formed Business AI Alliance (BAIA), a UK-based collaborative network for AI experts, researchers, and thinkers who have a desire to help inform the ongoing approach to innovation, adoption, scaling, and regulation of AI to encourage collaboration between AI creators for the benefit of UK small and medium sized enterprise (SME) business growth.

We recently caught up with Colin Carmichael, Client Partner at 4most, and founding member of BAIA, to find out more about the inspiration behind the alliance’s formation and how 4most are supporting the group’s mission.

Q – What was the inspiration behind the alliance’s creation?

AI has quickly permeated through many sectors within the UK, and globally, and firms are increasingly rushing to implement AI solutions to stay ahead of the curve. In the same breath, policymakers are attempting to put guardrails in place to make sure this is done in a productive and safe way so that the UK economy can reap the rewards of these new and powerful tools, while keeping consumers, and business owners alike, safe.

However, it felt like big tech and large corporates had the biggest influence on driving government strategy and SMEs were not well enough represented. BAIA was birthed from us wanting to address this issue and give SMEs a seat, and voice, at the table. This will lead to a more proportionate and considered approach for the needs of SMEs with our collective voice supporting the government growth agenda more constructively.

Q – What’s 4most’s involvement in the alliance?

We are the co-founders of the alliance and have been involved in the planning, launch, and nurturing of the community. As Secretariat, we will continue to help BAIA operate effectively and grow the member base to increase the breadth of representation that feeds into future AI policy and best practice.

As the UK’s largest team of risk consultants, 4most has worked with an array of organisations of different sizes and technical areas. We have seen firsthand how AI has begun to transform the way firms, both locally and globally, conduct business as well as the challenges around scaling safely, and we are looking forward to contributing our learnings alongside others in the alliance. The pace of change in AI is extraordinary, making it challenging to keep up. By working collectively, we can support one another and ensure no one is left behind.

Q – Can you tell us a bit about BAIA’s launch?

It was a real privilege to have kicked this initiative off at the Houses of Parliament back in September.

There were over 70 industry professionals in attendance and BAIA has since continued to receive a huge amount of interest in people eager to join the mission.

Within just 2 months of launching we have hit 200 firms who want to get involved. We have now created communities where members can interact with their peers and four core pillars which we want to drive actions through:

Adoption and Scaling
Education
Ethics & Responsible AI
Regulation & Policy

Q – What are your long-term aspirations for the alliance?

We want to be able to help shape the UK as a place where businesses leveraging AI can flourish and make a positive difference, and where we have a collective voice that our government listens to, supports, and invests in.

We more than welcome opportunities to collaborate with other relevant trade bodies and alliances. Our goal is not to create a separate voice, but to unite efforts and deliver a shared message. Rather than reinventing the wheel where progress is already being made, we aim to build on existing initiatives and work together.

We hope our input can help mould policies and frameworks for the productive adoption of AI, and that our efforts will leave a lasting positive impact on the UK economy.

Another key objective we are committed to is fostering the UK’s vibrant AI community and creating an environment that makes it easier for businesses to grow here. We want the UK to be the natural choice for innovation, rather than firms feeling compelled to relocate to the US or elsewhere, a trend we are determined to reverse.

Sovereign AI is essential for the UK to build global businesses from our own shores, leveraging home-grown foundation models and AI data centres to compete with leading tech innovators worldwide. The AI revolution offers the UK a unique opportunity to nurture and scale the next generation of unicorns domestically.