Blog: What Evidence Week Taught Us About Engaging with Parliament

At Evidence Week 2026, the Oxford Martin AI Governance Initiative was invited to present to MPs, Peers, and parliamentarians on how the UK can secure sovereign access to frontier AI in quickfire briefing sessions. Our researchers and programme team prepared for the event for months: defining actionable takeaways, translating technical concepts for non-specialist audiences, and refining our script to ensure key messages and recommendations could be communicated in under five minutes.

The reality of this rare and impactful engagement opportunity, however, was something none of our team members had anticipated. Few conversations followed the script we had planned – and that was precisely the point.

Within the first hour of our pod briefings in Parliament, the research team was speaking to people they hadn't expected to meet and adapting explanations for audiences with very different levels of familiarity with our subject matter. Two of our team members even headed to the Westminster Hall café, at one point, when an in-person briefing became a virtual one at short notice. Between busy bursts of conversation came quieter moments to regroup, compare notes, and prepare for whomever might stop by next. By the end of the day, one lesson stood out above all: successful policy engagement relies as much on agility as it does on expertise.

Rather than formal presentations, pod briefings create space for small-group discussions, allowing parliamentarians, researchers and parliamentary staff to explore evidence in an informal setting. Taking place in the Jubilee Room, located just off Westminster Hall, six pod briefings ran simultaneously during our afternoon session. Topics at our session ranged from AI sovereignty to space clusters to reducing prescribing errors in healthcare.

One of the defining features of the day was the diversity of conversations. While AI governance is currently high on the policy agenda, each visitor approached our research from a different perspective. Some wanted to understand the UK's position in the rapidly evolving global AI landscape, while others were interested in implications for national security, economic growth, infrastructure, skills, or international partnerships. There was no "standard" conversation; the same evidence prompted very different questions depending on each person's interests and responsibilities.

Led by Professors Robert Trager and Amro Awad, our team also included three of our Initiative's Research Affiliates. Our researchers’ varied expertise proved invaluable as discussions moved across disciplines and policy areas. Bringing a larger team than we had initially thought necessary also paid off. Not only were we prepared to adapt to online meetings, extended discussions, and overlapping bookings, but the larger team also allowed our researchers to swap out for breaks during the event – a necessity for anyone after hours of sustained engagement, no matter how passionate they may be about their topic.

The day also highlighted the wide variation in participants' baseline knowledge. Some visitors arrived with detailed familiarity with AI infrastructure and ecosystems. Others were encountering many of these concepts for the first time. Communicating effectively across this range of attendees, therefore, required continual adjustment: moving between high-level explanations and more technical discussions without making assumptions about prior knowledge. Having researchers with different areas of expertise allowed us to respond confidently as conversations evolved.

Preparation was equally important. Sense about Science provides participating teams with a detailed planning timeline, ensuring materials, logistics and briefing arrangements are in place well before the event. On the day itself, arriving at Westminster well in advance of the briefing session allows teams to quickly set up their pods with any support materials while being prepared to greet early arrivals. Despite this careful planning, flexibility remained essential. Alongside scheduled meetings, we welcomed visitors who had registered at the last minute, while others were delayed or unable to attend. Throughout the day, the Sense about Science team worked diligently behind the scenes to coordinate schedules, send reminders, and keep conversations flowing. Their experienced and attentive support allowed the researchers to focus on engaging with visitors rather than managing logistics.

Perhaps the most valuable outcome of the event was not any single briefing, but the relationships that began there. Many conversations concluded with an exchange of contact details and an invitation to continue the discussion after Evidence Week. For our team, the event was a reminder that effective policy engagement is not simply about communicating research findings. It is about listening, responding to the questions that matter most to policymakers, and building the relationships that enable evidence to inform policy over time.

Our participation in Evidence Week was funded by Research England’s Policy Support Fund via the Oxford Policy Engagement Network (OPEN). Find out more about Evidence Week.

Sami Wymes is Programmes Manager of the Oxford Martin AI Governance Initiative.