The Liverpool City Region's annual International AI Summit took place this week, bringing together industry leaders, researchers, and businesses to explore how artificial intelligence is transforming healthcare, education, and society.
Building on the success of last year's inaugural event, the 2025 Summit attracted more than 900 delegates to the ACC Liverpool to enjoy a series of thought-provoking talks, real-world case studies, and panel discussions on the theme "AI for Good."
The event showcased the region's growing reputation as a hub for ethical and impactful AI innovation.
Headline Sponsor
The University of Liverpool served as a headline sponsor, reflecting its commitment to regional innovation, collaboration, and real-world impact.
University staff played a leading role throughout the Summit, contributing to multiple panel sessions, exhibitions, and networking activities that highlighted the University's research expertise and partnership opportunities.
Participation
Panel sessions involved a number of University researchers including Professor Iain Buchan, Associate Pro Vice Chancellor for Innovation and Director of Civic Health Innovation Labs (CHIL) who was a panellist for Deep Dive Session that explored Health and Life Sciences.
The University also led the Innovation Ecosystem Deep Dive, chaired by Professor Katie Atkinson, with Professor of Autonomous Systems Simon Maskell, Justin Kelly (Glass Futures), and Devon Barrett (Podaris), exploring how AI, data, and human-centred design can strengthen regional innovation.
Devon Barrett highlighted the ongoing collaboration with the University and the Liverpool City Region through the KUDATA project (Korea-UK Digital Twin Approach for Transport Analysis), which uses digital twin technologies to enhance transport connectivity.
Dr Emily Rempel, Research Fellow in Public Participation and Data Practices, Civic Data Cooperative (CDC) took part in the Education and Civic Data panel, and Dr Heeso Rain Kwon, Assistant Professor in Geographic Data Science, acted as Moderator on the Transport and Environment session.
Dr Elena Musi, Associate Professor in Communication and Media explored AI and Communication with a focus on Argumentation and Misinformation in the AI for Good session.
Commitment:
Vice-Chancellor Professor Tim Jones said: "We were delighted to be the headline sponsor of the Liverpool City Region AI Summit 2025. As a critical anchor institution, the University of Liverpool is committed to driving the region's AI for Good agenda and supporting a day focused on innovation, collaboration, and real-world impact.
"Through our 'AI for Life' Research Frontier, we are tackling major challenges like climate change, healthcare, and digital inclusion - always with an emphasis on ethical, transparent, and community-driven AI. I am confident that the outcome of this Summit will spark new partnerships and inspire transformative change in a technology that is shaping the way we live and work."
AI for Life Research Frontier
The University's AI for Life Research Frontier featured prominently, with researchers demonstrating how AI can improve lives, strengthen communities, and drive inclusive economic growth.
Interactive exhibitions and "Meet the Innovators" sessions featured experts from CHIL, Digital Media & Society Institute, LIV-SRF, the Computational Biology Facility (CBF), and the Centre for Doctoral Training in Data-Intensive Science (LIV.INNO).
The University's exhibition highlighted its six Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs), its enterprise support through University of Liverpool Enterprise and the Sir Peter Rigby Centre for Enterprise, plus opportunities for partnership facilitated by the Research Partnerships and Innovation (RPI)team. RPI Business Development Managers were on hand to discuss partnerships, collaborations, and opportunities to engage.
Youth AI Summit
Alongside this event, a special Youth AI Summit was held on 20 October 2025 at The Spine in Knowledge Quarter Liverpool, featuring 200 students and young people from across the city region. This event, supported by the University of Liverpool's CHIL, aimed to amplify young people's voices in AI discussions.
AI Discovery Day
Ahead of the main Summit, the University hosted an AI Discovery Day in partnership with NVIDIA and Dell Technologies.
Over 150 University staff attended the special event to hear keynote speeches from Andy Grant (NVIDIA) and Tiffany St James (Inaugural Chief AI Officer at LCR).
The event focused on strengthening AI research foundations and fostering collaboration between academia and industry.
University researchers presented on Large Language Models (LLMs), multimodal systems, AI, and digital twins, while NVIDIA and Dell Technologies shared insights on scaling AI infrastructure. University leaders also outlined their vision for AI innovation and the AI for Life Research Frontier.
The event included a poster competition for PhD students, which was won by Claire Lebrun from the Economics Subject Group with
Ahmad Mansuri, a PhD Researcher from the School of Architecture was second and Qiyuan Xu, a PhD Student in the Department of Physics came third. The quality and breadth of the submissions was highly commended by judges from both organisations.
Information for University of Liverpool staff
If you want to generate impact and income from your knowledge and research, collaborating with organisations outside academia might be the path.
Take a look at our Research Partnering Toolkit here.
