About Nesta

Nesta is a research and innovation foundation. We apply our deep expertise in applied methods to design, test and scale solutions to some of the biggest challenges of our time, working across the innovation lifecycle.

Agentic AI: opportunities and lessons for social good - 6 May 2026 12:00 – 13:00

Agentic AI has the potential to transform how we approach complex social challenges, but its success depends on moving beyond the hype to practical, effective implementation. While interest in advanced AI is growing rapidly, successfully delivering these tools in the social impact space requires navigating significant technical and operational complexities. Uncertainty around defining success and the speed of prototyping can lead to stalled projects and missed opportunities for innovation.

On Wednesday 6 May, 12:00–13:00 BST, we will explore how organisations can proactively identify opportunities for agentic AI.

Drawing on Nesta and i.AI’s recent work and internal experimentation, this session will demonstrate how to determine if and how organisations should integrate agentic AI into their work. Our expert panel, chaired by Nesta’s applied research & innovation director Mallory Durran, will share insights and takeaways from latest projects across both organisations. They will discuss practical ways to define success, the importance of rapid prototyping and what "good" looks like for AI implementation within the UK government and third sector.

The discussion will focus on the tangible benefits of agentic AI when applied to the right problems, the importance of empowering leaders with the confidence to test these tools and how to take the next practical steps in an AI strategy.

This online webinar is for leaders working in the social impact space, including those in government and the third sector, as well as academics, researchers and technical staff interested in the application of advanced AI for social good.

Speakers

Mallory Durran

Mallory Durran

She/Her

Mallory has led public sector and start-up teams harnessing data and technology for the public good for over a decade. She brings extensive experience from the heart of UK government, including in No 10 and the Cabinet Office, and most recently as Interim Director of the Incubator for AI at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, leading an engineering team building AI applications for public sector improvement. With an academic background in computational neuroscience, Mallory is a badged statistician and former SCS member of the Government Statistical Service. She has contributed to significant government standard setting and reviews on data and digital infrastructure, ethics, and AI safety and opportunity and led No 10's open API framework development (project rAPId). At Nesta, Mallory oversees the applied research, methods, AI, and technology offer for the group, bringing innovative approaches to improving access to and efficacy of interventions across Nesta’s missions and the wider public sector. She remains relentlessly enthusiastic about the power of data and technology to fuel positive change.

Seth Caldwell profile picture

Seth Caldwell

He/Him

Seth is a Head of Science in the Data Science Practice. Before Nesta, Seth spent nearly a decade in the humanitarian sector, delivering data and analysis products to inform more effective humanitarian response. His previous position was at the UN’s Centre for Humanitarian Data, where he led the development of a horizon scanning tool, HDX Signals, to monitor for deteriorating humanitarian situations across the globe. Seth holds a BA in Economics from Hendrix College and MS in Analytics from the Georgia Institute of Technology. When not working, Seth is playing tennis, solving puzzles, or cooking for friends and family.

headshot-simon-square

Simon Wisdom

He/Him

Simon Wisdom has evolved from product data science in fintech to building AI applications for public benefit. At Nesta he is developing AI agents that tackle critical admin bottlenecks preventing climate and health initiatives from scaling. Specifically, he will be partnering with the sustainable future and healthy life mission teams to prototype agentic AI solutions for heat pump installer admin work and verification and auditing work for nutrition data analysts.