What good digital leadership looks like in 2026: Reflections from Think Digital Government

By Amanda Payne, Government Services Director, GAIN Experience

At this year's Think Digital Government, one question underpinned the panel I joined: how do good leaders drive transformation?

It's a question that feels increasingly important as digital transformation in government continues to evolve. Over the last few years, we've seen structural changes across the digital centre, shifts in leadership, and renewed focus on modernising public services. At the same time, expectations from the public have continued to grow, placing greater pressure on organisations to deliver services that are simple, accessible and joined up.

Despite that momentum, many of the same challenges remain.

Reflecting on the discussion between myself and the panel members, questions from the audience and conversations throughout the day – some things became clear to me. Digital transformation is happening everywhere. Digital transformation often fails. Digital transformation is inevitable in the age of AI.

One of the most consistent patterns I see across government organisations is that digital transformation is still treated primarily as a technology delivery challenge. The assumption is that if teams improve delivery capability, adopt the right technologies or embed agile ways of working, transformation will follow.

But as Leanne Cummins verbalised in her introduction, and what I wholeheartedly agree on, is that what often is missing is well-defined outcomes and impacts at the start of a transformation programme. And is Digital Transformation actually the right thing we should be focusing on?

I've been delivering digital strategy for almost three decades – so long that I've lost count of the new technologies and trends that have triggered "transformation". The most recent, AI, presents one of the biggest shifts in how digital services will be delivered and consumed. And presents a real chance for leaders to "do transformation right".

Here are some of the key themes that I believe will help senior leaders drive transformation:

1. What problem are you trying to solve?

What often is missing is well-defined outcomes and impacts at the start of a transformation programme. And setting out these outcomes is the responsibility of leaders. Leaders should be clear about what transformation is trying to achieve – a definition of what problem the transformation is trying to solve – and how decisions support that direction. As I put it on the day: "What's the problem you're trying to solve? Then you have the impact, then you know what the desired outcome is going to be."

But good digital leadership requires more than setting vision. It requires staying connected to the detail of how services are designed, delivered and experienced. When leaders engage more directly with delivery teams, user research and operational challenges, decisions become more grounded and significantly more effective.

2. Infrastructure is more important than ever

Most transformation programmes have some form of greenfield technology change, but it's very rarely fully "brand new". Legacy technology, disjointed data, technical debt and patching up systems across teams and departments have, more often than not, created a fragile digital layer that masks deeper structural problems. I've spent years building on foundations that are rickety and patched, with the digital layer above hiding much of that reality. One of the opportunities that genuine transformation – and the current excitement around AI in particular – presents is the chance to finally fix those foundations properly. If you want to introduce AI, you need clean data, modern architecture and joined-up systems.

The desire for AI can be a powerful lever to secure investment and appetite for foundational work that has historically struggled to gain attention. The discipline, though, lies in using that momentum well: modernising data architecture, improving interoperability and tackling technical debt, rather than simply layering new tools on top of broken systems. Modernisation is also not only about introducing new platforms – it's equally about retiring old ones. Turning off outdated systems is, if anything, harder than switching on new ones, but it's essential to making transformation stick.

3. Cultural transformation is more important than technological change 

Technology is the easy part. Repeatedly, across the panel and conversations throughout the day, we came back to the same point: successful transformation depends on people, not platforms. Programmes still struggle when they become overly technology-led and fail to bring staff along with the journey. Culture, adoption and communication are not soft add-ons to a transformation programme – they are the programme. This is particularly true in a public sector context where there are significant levels of change fatigue, as teams continue to navigate shifting ministerial priorities, budget pressures and constant organisational change.

Senior leaders have a responsibility to actively manage that fatigue, to communicate clearly why change is happening, and to connect technology initiatives to the outcomes that matter to the people doing the work. Victoria Cope, Commercial Director and Chief Procurement Officer for Digital and Data at the Ministry of Defence, put it well: "How can we tap into that and say, actually, there are things here that will help achieve that outcome?" Transformation that doesn't answer that question for staff will fail, regardless of the technology behind it.

4. Ownership and accountability 

When accountability for outcomes is unclear, decision-making slows down and services become harder to improve. Strong digital leadership creates clarity about who is responsible for the end-to-end experience, even within complex organisational structures. This means being explicit about ownership at every level – not just at programme board, but in the day-to-day decisions about design, delivery and iteration. It also means being willing to say no. Staying focused on a clear roadmap and rejecting projects that distract from core transformation goals is one of the hardest things leaders are asked to do – but one of the most important. As Victoria Cope noted on the panel: "No can be a full sentence."

5. Transform the way we do transformation in government

This has been a topic in transformation discussions for a few years now. But there's a growing momentum that we need to rethink how decisions are made, not just what decisions are made. In government environments, decisions are shaped by policy, funding models, governance structures and risk appetite. Even when there's strong user insight and evidence available, those decisions can become diluted as they move through layers of approval. Part of the answer lies in how we work with suppliers and partners – harnessing innovation, bringing in learnings from outside the sector and accessing a wider set of skills and experience. But part of it also lies in how senior leaders engage with ministers and policy colleagues, helping them understand how digital transformation supports the delivery of policy outcomes, rather than treating technology programmes as separate initiatives. Future leaders will also need stronger judgement, governance and critical thinking capabilities around AI – not just the ability to use the tools, but the capacity to make risk-based decisions about what comes out of them. 

In reality, most organisations already have strong delivery capability in place. There are experienced teams, growing digital maturity and a clear understanding of what good service design in government looks like.

For me, this is what good digital leadership in government looks like in 2026. It's less about driving technology adoption and more about shaping the environment in which good decisions can happen. It's about setting clear, outcome-focused direction, staying close to the reality of delivery, and ensuring that ownership and accountability are understood.

Digital transformation in the public sector isn't a one-off initiative. It's an ongoing process of improving how services meet the needs of the people who rely on them. As the conversation continues to evolve, it's clear that the next phase of transformation will not be defined by new tools or platforms.

It will be defined by how effectively we lead.