News

Former Number 10 Digital Chiefs Launch Albie to Transform How Communications Teams Successfully Adopt AI

London, 4 November 2025

The communication leaders who drove digital transformation at 10 Downing Street and the BBC today launch Albie, a new kind of AI advisory combining strategy, training, and purpose-built technology for corporate affairs and communications teams navigating the most disruptive shift in their profession's history.

Caption: Former UK government chief digital communicators Chris Hamilton (left) and Peter Heneghan (right) launch Albie.

After three years working with organisations from the United Nations to Amazon, former UK government chief digital communicators Peter Heneghan and Chris Hamilton are introducing a new operating model: combining strategic advisory, hands-on training, and AI technology designed specifically for the high-stakes, nuanced world of professional communications. Early clients, including Diageo, the University of Oxford, and Amazon, are already working with Albie across AI audits, crisis framework development, enterprise rollouts, and leadership training. In early 2026, Albie will also launch its AI platform built by communicators for communicators, featuring brand voice controls and enterprise-grade safeguards that generic AI tools lack. The client waitlist is now open at https://www.albie.ai/

Why This Matters Now

Caption: AI by communicators for communicators

"2026 is the year of the redesign," said Peter Heneghan, Albie founder and former UK Government Chief Digital Communicator. "We've spent three years working with communications teams from the UN to FTSE 100 companies. Generic AI tools produce generic content. They don't understand regulatory constraints, brand guidelines, or the reputational risk of getting tone wrong. We built Albie because communicators deserve better than repurposed consumer technology and vague promises about efficiency."

Awareness sessions and pilot projects need to give way to implementation. This isn't an incremental technology; it's a fundamental shift. The question is whether that redesign happens strategically or by default.

Chris Hamilton, Albie co-founder and former Chief Digital Communicator at Number 10, BP, and AstraZeneca, said: "Every board is asking about AI strategy. Most comms leaders still don't have an answer. They're drowning in generic tools that don't understand the nuances of professional communications - the regulatory weight, reputational risk, and brand voice precision our work demands. We help teams move from 'we're testing ChatGPT' to enterprise-level AI that protects reputation whilst delivering measurable value."

Albie provides strategic AI advisory, team upskilling, and technology integration. It supports successful rollout for organisations with mandated AI platforms. For those seeking purpose-built tools, the Albie AI platform works within existing workflows, integrating with Microsoft, Anthropic Claude, or any provider in your tech stack.

What Makes Albie Different

Unlike agencies retrofitting traditional services with AI add-ons, Albie integrates three components that most organisations are forced to piece together separately:

Strategic Advisory

Structured pathways from AI curiosity to confident adoption through leadership immersions, diagnostic audits, and operating model roadmaps. Recent engagements have helped organisations identify where AI creates genuine value versus where human judgement remains non-negotiable, particularly in crisis situations and stakeholder management.

Applied Training

Hands-on workshops that build AI fluency at every level, from C-suite executives who need strategic literacy to practitioners who need daily workflows. Training modules address real communications challenges: drafting regulatory responses, adapting content for different audiences, and maintaining consistency across channels.

Technology Built for Communications

Launching in early 2026, the Albie AI platform represents a new standard for AI in communications. Unlike generic tools that produce corporate-speak, the Albie AI platform integrates with brand guidelines, learns organisational tone of voice, and includes dedicated prompt libraries and agents for press releases, briefing notes, and crisis responses.

Built on Real-World Experience

Albie was built over three years of discovery, working with corporations, governments, and industry partners across four continents. The founders managed communications for some of the world's most scrutinised organisations, from Number 10 to the BBC, and that experience informs every aspect of how Albie helps teams navigate the AI transition.

That experience informs Albie's approach to the questions every communications leader faces: How do we maintain quality at increased speed? How do we ensure AI-generated content is on-brand and compliant? How do we upskill our teams rather than replace them? How do we demonstrate ROI to a skeptical CFO?

Albie addresses these questions through early client projects: building AI governance frameworks for legal teams, creating custom agents for specialised communications tasks, developing crisis response protocols that leverage AI for speed while preserving human judgement, and training programs that turn AI anxiety into AI fluency.

Notes to Editor

About Albie

Albie helps communications professionals successfully adopt AI through strategic consulting, applied training, and purpose-built technology. Founded by former Number 10 and BBC digital leaders, Albie enables organisations to deliver confident, compliant, and competitive communications in the AI era.

Leadership

What Albie Delivers

Current Clients

United Nations, Diageo, University of Oxford, BBC, Amazon, plus confidential FTSE 100 and Fortune 500 engagements.

Why Now

Communications is being reshaped by fragmented channels, declining trust, and accelerating AI. Most teams are experimenting with generic tools that create compliance risks and produce generic content. Albie bridges the gap between AI's promise and communications' reality, helping leaders implement AI strategically whilst protecting reputation.

The Albie AI Platform

Launches early 2026 with features designed for communications professionals:

• Brand voice controls that match organisational tone and style
• Regulatory safeguards for compliance-critical industries
• Prompt libraries and specialised agents for common tasks, from earnings announcements to internal memos
• Style guide integration ensuring consistency
• Enterprise-grade security addressing "shadow AI" concerns

Initial languages: English and Arabic. Spanish and Portuguese follow in Q2 2026.

Technology-agnostic by design. Integrates with Microsoft, Anthropic Claude, or multiple platforms without forcing replacement of existing infrastructure.

What's Next

Limited advisory engagements available for Q4 2025 and Q1 2026. Communications and corporate affairs leaders can book a discovery session at albie.ai. The platform waitlist is now open, offering priority access at launch and the opportunity to influence the development roadmap. Sign up here: www.albie.ai/#albie