In a significant first, the United Kingdom has elevated its Minister for Artificial Intelligence to a full cabinet-level position. Kanishka Narayan, an Indian-origin Labour politician from Wales, has been promoted to the role amid the global AI boom.

Narayan, initially appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for AI and Online Safety) in September 2025 under then-Prime Minister Keir Starmer, will retain his position and gain cabinet status under the new Prime Minister Andy Burnham. The move comes after Starmer’s resignation in June, which led to a cabinet reshuffle in which several senior ministers lost their positions.

Indian-origin Kanishka Narayan becomes 1st UK AI minister to attend Cabinet

Although Bloomberg was first to report the major revelation, Narayan eventually offered his own take by plugging the news headline in a social media post on Monday.

“The Prime Minister, @andyburnham, today asked me to attend Cabinet as Minister for AI, a sign of his deep commitment to AI’s importance,” the Indian-origin AI minister of the UK tweeted on X. “AI is likely the most significant technology in human history. Its impact will dwarf other things. The best case for it is compelling beyond our dreams: a reindustrialised Britain, stronger national security, public services transformed for the better.”

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Alluding to the widespread fears of AI-driven layoffs, he continued, “The risks, too, are real: it is right that the British public shares those worries, for jobs, for the pace of change.” Not backing down on the need to act on it and regulate the advanced technology accordingly, Narayan said, “The central fact is that it is happening. Nations have a narrow window to decide whether they shape AI or get shaped by it. Britain is in that window right now.”

“While that window is still open, I will act with pace, I will act with ambition, and I will focus relentlessly on securing British influence in shaping AI,” he added.

“I will also bring to this job the place I represent – a constituency in Wales, a nation with industry and ambition at its heart, a proud history of punching above its weight on the global stage. A nation which welcomed a 12-year-old and his family, gave us the best chance at opportunity, put me in Parliament as Wales’ first ethnic minority MP, and now affords me the chance to make a mark in Cabinet. Diolch o galon to everyone in the Vale of Glamorgan.”

What do we know about UK’s AI minister Kanishka Narayan?

Born in Bihar, Kanishka Narayan moved to Cardiff with his family at the age of 12. Initially, they all lived in a modest one-bedroom flat in Bedford Street, according to his website. In pursuit of a good Welsh education, he and his brother attended Cathays High School.

Years down the line, he chased wide-ranging higher education avenues at Eton College;  undergraduate education in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Balliol College, Oxford; and an MBA at Stanford University in the USA.

All those years combined helped Narayan understand early on that there was no difference in talent between his mates from Cathays in Cardiff and the friends he eventually made at each of the institutions he was privileged to attend.

“There was only difference in opportunity,” Narayan writes on his website, and it’s exactly what inspired him to found a mentoring program called Attain Wales at university, which supports Welsh state school kids to get access to top universities.

As the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for AI and Online Safety), Narayan is responsible for AI opportunities, AI Security Institute, Intellectual Property Office (IPO), semiconductors, tech for growth and online safety, according to the official UK government website.

He was elected as the MP for Vale of Glamorgan in July 2024.

Affirming his party affiliation, Kanishka Narayan writes on his website: “The Labour Party has been a vehicle of exceptional progress for our country. For my family, it has meant the dignity of a good minimum wage. It has meant the opportunity of contributing to thriving public services (my parents in law, my brother in the NHS, me in our civil service). And above all, growing up under the last Labour government, it has meant a country that prospered, giving us purpose. I am proud to be part of a Labour government that is again putting our country and our future at the heart of our politics.”

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While running for election, Narayan focused on conversations centred around three priorities: delivering job opportunities, backing his company organisations and tackling rising antisocial behaviour in the community.

With an “All hands on tech” approach, the UK AI minister has ambitiously vowed to create 1,000 job opportunities for Vale residents by 2030.

While he’s had the chance to advise Cabinet ministers and the Prime Minister at both the Business Department and the Cabinet Office as Economist and Senior Advisor, Narayan even ventured into business at one point. He previously worked at Lazard, where he advised FTSE boards,  government finance ministries, and tech start-up entrepreneurs across Europe and the US.

After his MBA, Narayan even walked into the global technology landscape and spent time in Silicon Valley. His experience supporting leading entrepreneurs in AI, fintech and climate change initiatives ultimately trickled down into his responsibilities while holding government titles. The Indian-born politician has since harnessed his old work profiles to make decisions as the Head of Tech Policy for Labour’s Shadow Digital Secretary. On top of that, the present-day AI minister served as  Expert Advisor to Britain’s Environment Secretary, helping write the UK’s 25-year environment plan to protect the country’s nature and landscape.