DecisionWorks has launched!

What happens when military leaders, innovators, and academics unite to reimagine decision-making for the digital era? DecisionWorks has just launched and it’s ready to change the game.

A Regional Story. DecisionWorks has been brewing in Lincolnshire over the last year, built on strong regional foundations – a large military presence, a defence-active university, the regional defence and security cluster and leadership in Agri-Food innovation. Remember this is the region where agricultural manufacturing was harnessed over a 100 years ago to invent the military tank.

Our Special Day. On 13 November 2025 seventy people came together in Lincoln to celebrate the launch of the DecisionWorks ‘initial operating capability’. We hosted military officers, civil servants, entrepreneurs, academics and thought-leaders, some local to Lincolnshire and many from other regions and national institutions. The diversity of the group was palpable and gave the day its unique feel.

Meeting a National Need. DecisionWorks is a direct response to the pressing needs of the nation and has the clear purpose of re-imagining decision-making for the digital era. This challenge is one shared across many sectors where decision-making is complex and the impacts are mission critical.

“Leadership is hard to define, and good leadership even harder. But if you can get people to make good decisions faster, your organisation wins.” – Indra Nooyi – Former CEO, PepsiCo

“Leaders must make decisions faster than the situation deteriorates.” – General David Petraeus, former Director CIA and US Army General

This focus resonated with attendees as we packed in presentations and conversations, validating the need for collaboration and innovation to transform high-stakes decision-making.

Speaking from Experience. Who better to speak on this topic than our keynote speaker, professional intelligence officer General Sir Jim Hockenhull, now Commander of the new Cyber and Special Operations Command. We are immensely grateful to him and to our other speakers.

General Jim spoke openly and in depth on the criticality of achieving ‘decision advantage’, laying down the challenge to innovators and wider society.

“We must learn the lessons from current conflicts and adapt at pace. We need to work with Academia and Industry to find new ways of generating advantage. The threats we face demand urgent action.” – Gen Sir Jim Hockenhull at DecisionWorks launch Nov 2025

Many are watching keenly as MOD puts firmer direction and pace around its approach to innovation. Our guest speaker James Gavin of UK Defence Innovation updated the audience on progress, highlighting the fit with DecisionWorks as a trusted and agile ‘triple helix’ innovation partnership.

Nourishing the mind. The event was held in the freshly fitted-out DecisionWorks facility, designed to nourish fast-paced collaboration. Lunch was provided by local caterers, celebrating Lincolnshire’s role as a dominant provider of the nation’s food. And, during lunch, guests were able to explore a wide range of thought-provoking exhibits from invited researchers, educators and innovators, all focused on the theme of decision-making with use cases drawn from multiple sectors.

The Value Proposition. For the home team, a highlight of the day was being able to pitch our vision and plans to the audience, showcasing an innovation sprint we’d worked on to build a decision support prototype. Audience participation was encouraged and everyone engaged brilliantly.

This word cloud was generated when we asked the audience how they would feel faced with automatically-generated alerts from an AI-enabled decision support tool. It illustrates the challenge ahead!

Dragon’s Den. The day closed with an ideas pitch-off. Mixed groups convened to scope out projects they’d like to see the DecisionWorks team take on. The richness of the discussions confirmed our belief there is nothing more powerful than bringing diverse minds and experiences together to imagine and then innovate new capabilities. We’ll be taking forward at least one of those projects.

The feedback on the day was really positive. Thank you to everyone who participated. We look forward to working closely with you as this initiative develops.

Want to shape the future of decision-making? Connect with us at decisionworks@lincoln.ac.uk and https://www.linkedin.com/company/decisionworks-ai.