TechMarketView

The countdown to An Evening with TechMarketView ‘26 continues... Today marks the start of something we’ve been keenly anticipating: revealing  who will be joining us on stage in October. Over the next three weeks, we’ll introduce each of our panellists in turn. First up, representing UK public sector, is Ross Maude, Chief Digital and Information Officer for the Cabinet Office. Ross is currently responsible for the digital transformation of the Cabinet Office, including the extension and improvement of its digital, data and AI services. Read more about Ross joining our panel here: https://bit.ly/4q9Xp7g We’re delighted that Atos is supporting our annual event this year as Headline Sponsor. Our spotlight on public sector, energy and financial services aligns with its UK&I business, which generated three quarters of its revenue from these verticals last year. Atos' commitment will contribute greatly to the success of our event in October.

📣 Last week brought contract wins, a change to government procurement rules, and another series of unsanctioned AI activity. Here's a preview of our recent coverage: ◆ Capita secured a five-year extension to its Transport for London Road User Charging contracts, carrying a combined order book of £424.6m over the initial term. The renewal offers steady annuity revenue for a business that has recently faced tough headlines. It won’t change fortunes in the same way as a new deal, but it’s a quiet vote of confidence worth having. ◆ The Department for Education confirmed that hackers obtained around 607,000 records through an attack on its external helpdesk, exposing names, job titles and contact details rather than financial information. A second, confirmed breach at the Police National Legal Database followed days later. Both incidents targeted people rather than infrastructure, highlighting AI’s contribution to social engineering being run at scale. ◆ Cognizant joined Cosine's coalition to co-design Lumen Sovereign, billed as Britain's first fully sovereign frontier AI model and backed by the government's £500m Sovereign AI programme. Membership gives Cognizant an opportunity to shape the model's requirements while adding credibility to the wider coalition, which already includes BAE Systems, HSBC and Lloyds Banking Group. ◆ The UK AI Security Institute (AISI) disclosed that AI agents took sustained action against real people and organisations during a routine cyber evaluation without ever being prompted to do so. In the most serious case, an agent attempted to insert malicious code into a real open-source project and created fake identities to socially engineer a human into approving it. These incidents, similar to the recent Hugging Face breach, exemplify why organisations must treat autonomous AI activity as a distinct category of cyber risk. ◆ Infoshare+ appointed Brian Aird as Chief Financial Officer, giving the public sector data and software group's rapid acquisition strategy a financial counterpart to the operational capability added by COO Ian Holden in January. The appointment communicates a shift from platform assembly towards execution, though the real test will be whether financial and operational integration can keep pace with continued ambition for growth. ◆ The government set out plans to overhaul procurement rules through a new public procurement notice, increasing the weighting on local jobs and skills for larger contracts while scrapping social value requirements entirely for contracts of £1m or less. Many suppliers are likely to welcome the shift, though the changes land against a backdrop of uncertainty following the dissolution of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. Want more insights on the tech market? Sign up for our FREE UKHotViews newsletter 📩 at: https://bit.ly/49pEn68

Supplier fortunes are diverging sharply amidst growth in the UK public sector SITS market 📜 Our most recent public sector report reveals a market forecast to grow every year through to 2029, but at an increasingly uneven pace. Most suppliers grew in 2025, but the gap widened significantly between the largest players and the rest. One long-standing name dropped out of the Top 20 altogether. Dale Peters identifies six trends determining where the money moves next - from tightening budgets to the shift from AI pilots to production - and analyses what each means for suppliers competing in this market. View our latest Top 20 rankings here: https://bit.ly/4pZKqF2

📣 Last week saw a reshuffle of the UK's AI governance structures, leadership changes at a major IT services firm, and the continued strength of hyperscaler earnings. Here's a preview of our recent coverage: ◆ Lord Vallance was appointed chair of the Prime Minister's new AI Taskforce, tasked with driving government AI strategy and public sector transformation. The Taskforce's broad remit spanning economic growth, public service transformation and departmental adoption brings with it a notably different challenge to the narrower, more measurable objectives that underpinned Vallance's earlier success leading the Vaccines Taskforce. ◆ Google UK Ltd was dropped from the government's AI tutoring pilot for disadvantaged pupils and replaced by PA Consulting Services, the sticking point found in unagreed contract terms rather than capability. The episode highlights programme ownership questions following the dissolution of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, with responsibility now split across several restructured departments. ◆ Microsoft shareholders were treated to some relief as shares jumped around 7% after FY26 results beat expectations. Revenue was reported up 16% in constant currency to $331.8bn and Azure passed $100bn for the full year, up 41%. The firm poured $41bn into capital expenditure in Q4, mostly on CPUs and GPUs, pushing free cash flow down even as cash from operations rose 30%. ◆ Capgemini UK & Ireland maintained its fast-paced start to 2026 as it delivered year-on-year constant currency growth of 20.4% in Q2. Revenue of €893m took H1 turnover up 21.1%, although this was largely driven by the 2025 acquisitions of WNS and Cloud4C Services. UK&I has upheld its position as Capgemini's best performing geography by profitability, with several significant sales wins including a £500m contract at HM Revenue & Customs. ◆ DXC Technology made a series of leadership changes, splitting its combined President and CEO role. While Raul Fernandez continues as CEO, Paul Taylor has been appointed as President and Dan Gray as President of Global Infrastructure Services. The moves aim to strengthen AI expertise and simplify decision-making as the company navigates a further forecast organic revenue decline of 3% to 5% in FY27. ◆ Amazon Web Services (AWS) delivered its fastest growth rate since early 2022, with Q2 revenue up 37% year-on-year to $42.2bn and operating income rising to $16.6bn from $10.2bn the year prior. The firm raised its 2026 capital expenditure guidance to $220bn; CEO Andy Jassy indicated that growth over the next two to three years will be capped by build capacity rather than customer demand. Want more insights on the tech market? Sign up for our FREE UKHotViews newsletter 📩 at: https://bit.ly/49pEn68

We're delighted to welcome Atos, a client of TechMarketView since our very beginnings in 2009, as our premier sponsor of An Evening with TechMarketView '26! This year's event puts a spotlight on the sectors where Atos has built some of its deepest expertise. The evening will feature a panel debate on the opportunities and challenges of agentic AI, with panellists drawn from Public Sector, Financial Services, and Energy. Those verticals are central to Atos UK&I's business, contributing more than three-quarters of UK revenue last year. Atos is a global leader in digital transformation, with c.56,000 employees, annual revenue of c.€7.2 billion, and operating in 54 countries. The company is committed to a secure and decarbonised future, providing tailored AI-powered, end-to-end solutions for all industries. Based on our most recent analysis, Atos is ranked in the Top 20 of UK software and IT services suppliers. The Group's strategy is built around three interlocking priorities: digital sovereignty by design, mission-critical agentic AI, and cybersecurity embedded across the full stack — each reinforcing the next, as sovereignty demands cyber, and cyber increasingly runs on AI. These are exactly the themes the evening's panel will be exploring. Last year's event drew strong praise, with many attendees citing it as our best yet. We're aiming to match – or exceed - that this year at Mall Galleries. An Evening with TechMarketView '26 will take place on Thursday 8th October amidst live music and artwork exhibited by the Society of Wildlife Artists. Join us for an evening designed to encourage candid market debate and cultivate the connections that matter most in UK tech. Mingle with CXOs, VPs, and thought leaders while gaining vital market perspectives from our analyst team and distinguished guests. Tickets: https://bit.ly/4uEJNSI Sponsorship: https://bit.ly/4wAzobQ

FREE: UK tech confidence is rising for the third consecutive half-year – but this headline masks tensions beneath the surface 🌊 TechMarketView's Summer 2026 Tech Confidence Index reveals an overall TCI score of 6.5, up from 6.4 six months ago. The improvement sits against a turbulent backdrop: escalating conflict in the Middle East, an unresolved Ukraine war, and a change in UK political leadership following Keir Starmer's resignation on 22nd June. Here are some key findings from our twice-yearly survey of UK technology business leaders: 💠 88% plan to invest in AI over the next 12 months, up from 81% – but only 61% say AI investment is meeting or exceeding expectations 💠 Optimism for the next 12 months has rebounded to 47% from 36%, though this may already be an outdated view given current political upheaval 💠 Geopolitical instability enters the survey for the first time, cited by 58% as a key concern 💠 43% say an IT labour shortage is holding them back, up from 38%, with AI and data skills dominating the gaps Download the full report here: https://bit.ly/tmv-tci

£298bn committed to UK defence over four years – but which companies will convert this into revenue?🛡️ 'Defence SITS Disruptors and Innovators 2026' (Georgina O'Toole) profiles 10 firms reshaping how UK defence capability is built, procured, and deployed, mapping a further 14 across nine disruption categories. Organisations include a nine-person team in Bristol that beat more than 400 organisations to a Ministry of Defence contract, and a London startup racing to deliver Britain’s first sovereign frontier AI model. What connects them? Specific, evidenced, operationally deployed capability rather than wide-ranging technology promises. Explore the full shortlist: https://bit.ly/4bmdCQO

Did you catch us on TechRadar? Get Georgina O'Toole's take on Accenture and its trading slump below:

📣 Last week we analysed stories involving MSP consolidation, public sector contract wins, and a concerning AI security incident. Here's a preview of our recent coverage: ◆ Flotek Group Limited added Essex-based Clear Telecom to its portfolio, marking the Bridgend-headquartered MSP's 16th acquisition since it was founded in 2022. To continue expanding in this manner, CEO Jay Ball faces the twin challenge of funding continued acquisitions from cash while managing integration across a fast-growing entity. ◆ BT Business was chosen by Scottish Water to deliver a new fully integrated network and security service, spanning both IT and operational technology environments across roughly 7,000 network connections. The win adds to a run of recent BT Business contracts, but contrasts with declining divisional revenue and EBITDA, leaving questions as to whether BT can capitalise more broadly on utilities' cybersecurity spend. ◆ Atos won a £350m application management contract with the Metropolitan Police, reinforcing a partnership that dates back to 2015. The win followed a full competitive tender rather than an extension, supporting the sovereign-delivery strategy Atos has been building and adding another long-term, mission-critical contract to its UK back-to-growth story. ◆ OpenAI's own models broke out of an isolated research environment during an internal cyber capability evaluation, exploiting a zero-day vulnerability to reach and breach Hugging Face's servers without access to source code. The incident occurred because OpenAI had deliberately switched off deployment safeguards to test unconstrained capability, underlining how quickly frontier AI capability is outpacing the guardrails built around it. ◆ Alphabet Inc.'s Q2 2026 results showed Google Cloud revenue growing 82% year-on-year to $24.8bn, building on 63% growth in Q1 and driven by enterprise AI and infrastructure demand across GCP. Capital expenditure reached $44.9bn for the quarter, double the prior year, as Google continued to outpace hyperscaler rivals while facing the challenge of sustaining momentum without overextending its spending. ◆ IBM’s full second-quarter results cut full-year revenue guidance to 4-5% constant currency, down from the 5%+ guidance set at Q1. The cut follows a pre-announcement last week of customer capex shifts away from IBM Z. Consulting revenue grew by 1% despite signings - driven by GenAI transformation - increasing by 6%, indicating that clients are contracting faster than IBM can convert work to delivery. Want more insights on the tech market? Sign up for our FREE UKHotViews newsletter 📩 at: https://bit.ly/49pEn68

Frontier AI cyber capability is moving faster than most of the guardrails built around it, and a new incident involving OpenAI is one of the more striking examples I've come across in a while. During a routine internal evaluation, an OpenAI model, working alongside an unreleased and more capable system, broke out of what was supposed to be an isolated test environment. It found and exploited a zero-day vulnerability nobody at OpenAI knew existed, escalated its own privileges, and moved laterally until it reached the open internet. Once there, it worked out that Hugging Face was probably hosting the solutions to the benchmark it was trying to solve, and used stolen credentials to get remote code execution on Hugging Face's live servers, entirely without access to source code. It is a scary and uncertain time to be planning the security of an organisations networks and data. The takeaway isn't just to watch this space, it's a twin challenge that's only going to intensify: understand what these models are now capable of at pace, and build AI-led security capabilities of your own that can match the speed at which AI-driven threats are starting to move. Make sure to stay tuned to TechMarketView UKHotViews for our daily analysis of the market trends and developments you need to know about. https://lnkd.in/eDwi2Kfd