James Lawson is Chairman of the Adam Smith Institute.

James blends experience from business and government. His day job is in Artificial Intelligence, delivering new capabilities for the UK.

James was selected by the founders to continue the ASI’s legacy. James is very much a product of the ASI, as a long running Senior Fellow. He first attended the ASI’s events while at school, as he yearned to learn more about Economics - which is a testament to the ASI’s long-running educational outreach. He has remained involved in the decades since.

He previously was appointed by successive Prime Ministers as a Senior Special Adviser in the Cabinet Office. He was a Director at Microsoft, where he was selected for their “Platinum Club” are a top 1% performer, and lead their landmark agreement with the UK’s Ministry of Defence. Prior to Microsoft he held leadership roles at DataRobot and WorkFusion.

His clients have included a range of global companies (including Santander, Spotify, ICA, Chanel, Telefonica, Bank of America, Société Générale) as well as across various areas of governments. He advises executives about transforming operations through technologies like artificial intelligence, data science, and cloud computing. He was previously identified by DataIQ as one of the UK's most influential people in data.

He read philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford, with a particular focus on events since 1870. His recent ASI publications focused on the Covid-19 response and policies to nurture Artificial Intelligence capabilities in the UK.

James is a Research Adviser at The Entrepreneurs Network, Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and member of the Mont Pelerin Society (of which he was the youngest ever joiner).