Funder: UK Research and Innovation
Due Dates: December 8, 2026, 11:00am UK time (Application deadline)
Funding Amounts: £100,000–£200,000 per project for three to five months; up to £5 million available
Summary: Supports UK AI suppliers and deployers to establish deployment-ready use cases for advanced AI and machine learning in assurance and compliance.
Key Information: Collaborative projects only: a UK SME AI supplier, an eligible UK deployer, and at most one additional partner.
Description
Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, runs this Phase 1 BridgeAI competition to help advanced AI and machine learning solutions move beyond pilots towards trusted operational deployment. This strand supports systems whose primary purpose is to monitor, test, verify, validate or evidence compliance with regulatory requirements, standards or controls. It funds feasibility work on existing solutions, rather than early-stage research or routine implementation.
Projects must develop an evidence-based deployment use case, assess supplier and deployer readiness, identify deployment barriers, and outline assurance and site-preparation activities for a potential Phase 2. They must obtain support letters from prospective future deployers and demonstrate the solution using representative deployer data and systems in a representative operational environment towards project completion. The wider programme aims to generate learning that supports commercial adoption and replication.
