UK launches CustomerFirst to modernise public services with help from Octopus Energy CEO

The United Kingdom’s Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) has launched CustomerFirst, a dedicated transformation unit co-chaired by Octopus Energy Chief Executive Officer Greg Jackson, with a mandate to rewire the delivery of government services. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency will be the first partner agency in this effort, which aims to tackle legacy inefficiencies through AI-powered service design and private sector best practices.

Positioned as a critical plank of the government’s broader Roadmap for a Modern Digital Government, the CustomerFirst initiative signals a willingness to experiment with “NewCo” models to bypass technical debt and rethink end-user experience from scratch.

Why is the UK government adopting a startup-style delivery model to modernise citizen-facing services?

The formation of CustomerFirst within the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology marks a significant departure from conventional approaches to digital government transformation. Instead of layering incremental improvements onto legacy systems, the initiative is taking a “clean sheet” approach that draws heavily from the playbooks of high-growth technology firms and fintech disruptors.

This pivot is being spearheaded by Tristan Thomas, previously of Monzo Bank, alongside Octopus Energy Chief Executive Officer Greg Jackson, whose company has gained attention for embedding generative artificial intelligence into frontline service operations. The selection of Jackson is not symbolic—Octopus reportedly uses AI to generate 35 percent of its customer support emails, driving down wait times and lifting satisfaction scores to 70 percent or higher.

The DVLA, which manages millions of vehicle and licensing interactions annually, is being positioned as a prototype agency for this transformation. By embedding CustomerFirst within DVLA’s operational ecosystem, the government aims to test a modular model that can later be adapted across departments. AI-based tools such as Caddy—already being used in some government contact centres—will likely play a central role in this shift toward AI-first service design.

From a structural perspective, the CustomerFirst team has been granted autonomy to operate outside of departmental silos, with a mandate to avoid the common trap of retrofitting modern technologies into incompatible legacy architectures. This is a crucial distinction. Much like a venture-backed startup, CustomerFirst is expected to develop minimal viable products quickly, iterate based on real user feedback, and scale successful models to broader public use cases.

How could this model reshape taxpayer value, public trust, and service equity in the UK?

The government’s public framing of the initiative links digital transformation with both fiscal prudence and citizen convenience. According to internal estimates cited in the announcement, there is a potential £4 billion in taxpayer savings from shifting service interactions away from traditional channels such as post, phone, or in-person visits and toward digital-first platforms.

More fundamentally, this transformation effort is being presented as an antidote to the systemic trust erosion that has plagued government services in recent years. The announcement explicitly targets common citizen pain points—long phone queues, redundant form-filling, and outdated user interfaces—as failures of service design, not simply resource constraints. The “computer says no” culture, as Minister Ian Murray put it, is no longer tenable.

Yet the architects of the initiative are also keenly aware of the digital divide. By committing to maintain offline access for individuals who are elderly, digitally excluded, or less confident with technology, the strategy signals a dual-track delivery philosophy. This hybrid approach may help insulate the initiative from political criticism while enabling rapid innovation among digitally fluent demographics.

The emphasis on building internal capability rather than outsourcing transformation to traditional consulting firms is another key design choice. CustomerFirst is actively recruiting experienced talent in service design, product management, and solutions architecture. This internalisation strategy suggests a long-term intent to build institutional muscle around digital execution rather than rely on rotating external vendors.

What lessons from Octopus Energy, Monzo, and other UK tech players are being operationalised?

By explicitly citing Octopus Energy’s AI deployment and Monzo’s digital onboarding model, the initiative offers a rare look at how private sector tactics are being translated into government reform. At Octopus, generative AI is not a back-office experiment—it is a frontline tool that is directly shaping customer experiences at scale. This stands in stark contrast to many government pilots, which rarely progress past proof-of-concept.

Similarly, the Monzo lineage provides insight into how agile delivery, modular systems, and obsessive user testing can dramatically reduce friction in financial services—a sector that, like government, is heavily regulated and risk-sensitive. Tristan Thomas’s leadership of CustomerFirst suggests an intent to inject these cultural norms into Whitehall, where waterfall-style project management remains dominant.

This fusion of digital-native instincts with government-scale mandates could serve as a new blueprint for transformation. It may also elevate expectations among citizens, who increasingly benchmark public services against the responsiveness and personalisation of private sector platforms.

The operational question is whether such cultural transplanting can stick. Government agencies, unlike startups, do not face existential pressure from churn or burn rate. Without the threat of collapse or investor revolt, maintaining urgency will depend heavily on leadership continuity, ministerial sponsorship, and structural insulation from political churn.

What should enterprise vendors, consulting firms, and AI platform providers take away from this announcement?

For vendors, the CustomerFirst model opens two divergent paths. On one hand, its internal capability-building agenda and preference for “NewCo”-style delivery units suggest a reduced appetite for large multi-year transformation contracts that lock in external providers. On the other hand, the clear focus on execution, tooling, and fast iteration creates fertile ground for modular software, composable architectures, and AI orchestration layers that can be embedded into departmental workflows.

Companies offering low-code platforms, generative AI copilots, secure API frameworks, and behavioural analytics tooling may find new opportunity if they can align to the iterative, user-centred philosophy being advanced here.

For management consultancies, this is both a warning and an invitation. Traditional transformation frameworks are unlikely to resonate with CustomerFirst’s leadership. But those consultancies willing to embed with agile teams, co-own risk, and focus on product outcomes rather than slide decks could gain strategic footholds.

More broadly, the move strengthens the case for digital sovereignty strategies across Europe. As states grapple with how to modernise bureaucracies without compromising equity, privacy, or autonomy, the UK’s willingness to prototype new organisational models—rather than just new software—could shape the next wave of public sector innovation.

Key takeaways on how CustomerFirst could reshape government service delivery and UK public sector transformation

• The United Kingdom has launched CustomerFirst, a public-private transformation unit co-chaired by Octopus Energy Chief Executive Officer Greg Jackson, to modernise government service delivery.

• The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency will serve as the pilot partner for the CustomerFirst initiative, focusing on frictionless digital-first customer experiences.

• Generative artificial intelligence will be used in frontline service interactions, drawing inspiration from Octopus Energy’s internal AI deployments.

• The initiative reflects a shift from legacy system upgrades to a startup-style “NewCo” transformation model with autonomy to test new architectures.

• Potential cost savings are estimated at £4 billion by moving interactions online and eliminating inefficiencies in paper and phone-based workflows.

• CustomerFirst is explicitly recruiting experienced professionals in product management, service design, and solutions architecture to build in-house capability.

• The programme aims to replicate private sector user experience standards in public services without displacing offline accessibility for vulnerable or digitally excluded populations.

• Its success could influence how other departments and governments pursue end-to-end digital transformation through organisational rather than just technical reform.

• The model is expected to appeal to modular software providers, composable architecture vendors, and consulting firms willing to adapt to iterative, product-led delivery models.

• If successful, the CustomerFirst blueprint could reset expectations around public sector responsiveness, citizen trust, and government-tech integration across Europe.