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Speakers at the October 7 City Quantum & AI Summit argued that slow institutional decision-making—not simply procurement rules—is holding back the use of AI and quantum technology in UK defence. British Business Bank Chair Stephen Welton also said its £100 million commitment to OQC’s £260 million Series C was intended to encourage private investors to back UK deep-tech companies.
Speakers at the City Quantum & AI Summit in London said the UK’s adoption of defence AI and quantum technology is being slowed by institutional reluctance to take risks, while domestic deep-tech companies also need more capital to scale. At the October 7 event, former Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin cited an average wait of more than 1,000 days to complete a business case for a UK defence programme worth over £200 million; British Business Bank Chair Stephen Welton described a £100 million commitment to quantum company OQC as a signal to private investors.
Radakin gave the procurement figure during a defence panel titled “Defence: Safety and Security in Troubled Times.” He said the average time to finish the business case for a UK programme above £200 million was more than 1,000 days, before a contract is signed. The figure concerns the business-case stage, not the full time from a proposal to deployment. The report does not provide a methodology or a time period for the average.
Panel participants included Ned Baker, UK managing director of defence AI company Helsing; Jeanette van Halteren of Thales and a former NATO director; Alberto Reguera Guerrero of Multiverse Computing; and Tony Lowe, chief executive of quantum gravity sensor company Delta.g. Baker said he did not see the main obstacle as a particular rule that could simply be removed. He argued that officials need to feel authorised to make decisions and accept risk. Van Halteren said the Ministry of Defence’s ASGARD initiative had been effective but, in her view, had since returned to a more programme-driven approach.
In a separate evening keynote, Welton said the British Business Bank’s £100 million commitment to OQC’s £260 million Series C was intended to demonstrate that UK capital could anchor a British deep-tech company. The summit report presents the commitment as a signal to private investors; it does not establish that the investment has changed broader funding levels or investor behaviour.
Faster Decisions, Stronger UK Funding
The speakers’ accounts point to two linked challenges for UK deep-tech: getting technology into use and financing companies capable of developing it. A long business-case process can delay defence buyers’ decisions even as military needs and technology change. For companies, uncertain procurement timelines may make it harder to plan development, production and investment, although the summit report does not quantify those effects.
Capital matters because advanced technology companies often need substantial funding before their products are widely adopted. Welton’s account of the OQC commitment frames public investment as a way to encourage private money to support UK firms. Whether that approach leads to further investment, or helps companies retain operations and ownership in Britain, remains unproven in the material available.
Speakers also described national sovereignty as the ability to maintain core capabilities while working with trusted allies, rather than operating in isolation. That framing matters to defence buyers weighing domestic supply and security against the benefits of international partnerships. It was a point made at the summit, not a new government policy announced there.
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The Summit’s Defence and Finance Debate
The sixth City Quantum & AI Summit was organised by Redcliffe Advisory and held at Mansion House on October 7, 2026, under the theme “Connections in Chaos.” Its sessions addressed how Britain can use emerging technology in defence and support companies developing it. The event report was published by The Quantum Insider on October 30.
Radakin contrasted UK procurement for its own armed forces with the process used to source equipment for Ukraine through Task Force Kindred. He said the latter approach had enabled purchases for Ukraine’s forces, while procurement for the UK’s own military involved slower processes. He noted that the personnel involved were not necessarily different; in his account, the distinction was the permission to take operational and financial risks. He raised, but did not resolve, whether a faster approach should become the default, with exceptions for areas such as nuclear submarines, fast jets and major munitions.
Baker also described military AI, faster cycles of development and private investment as forces changing defence technology. He cited Ukraine as an example where systems can be adjusted in hours or days rather than over the years or decades associated with traditional cycles. These were his observations about the sector, not independently measured results presented in the report.
“If anything was over 200 million, then just on average, just to finish off the business case would take over 1,000 days.”
— Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, former Chief of the Defence Staff
What the Summit Did Not Establish
The summit report does not give the methodology behind Radakin’s 1,000-day average, the number of programmes it covers or the dates used to calculate it. It also does not specify how long each stage of procurement takes or whether the figure applies across different kinds of defence projects.
The speakers’ accounts describe their assessment of institutional culture and funding needs; they do not provide a government response or independent evaluation of the proposed changes. The report does not say whether the Ministry of Defence plans to extend the approach associated with Task Force Kindred or ASGARD, or what formal changes would be made to procurement practice.
Welton’s remarks establish the stated purpose of the bank’s commitment to OQC, but not whether the investment has attracted additional private funding. The material also does not set out the full financing terms, the status of the Series C or what milestones the company expects the funding to support.
Procurement and Investment Decisions Ahead
The summit itself announced no timetable for changes to defence procurement or a new funding programme. The next indicators will be whether the Ministry of Defence changes how it delegates risk and approves major business cases, and whether the faster decision-making approaches discussed by speakers are adopted beyond individual initiatives.
For the financing question, further information about OQC’s Series C and the response from private investors would show whether the British Business Bank’s stated signalling role has translated into additional backing. Until such developments are reported, the summit’s central points remain speaker assessments of the barriers facing UK defence adoption and deep-tech investment.
Key Questions
What did speakers identify as the main UK defence technology bottleneck?
Several speakers pointed to institutional risk appetite and decision-making culture, rather than a single procurement rule, as barriers to putting new technology into service.
What does the 1,000-day figure refer to?
Radakin said completing the business case for a UK defence programme worth more than £200 million takes over 1,000 days on average. The figure is for the business-case stage, before a contract is signed, and the report does not provide its methodology.
What is the British Business Bank’s OQC commitment?
Welton said the bank committed £100 million to OQC’s £260 million Series C to demonstrate that British capital could anchor a UK deep-tech company and encourage private investors.
Did the summit announce changes to procurement policy?
No policy change or implementation timetable was reported. Speakers discussed faster and more risk-tolerant approaches, but the report does not say that the government adopted them.
Source: thequantuminsider.com
