Matt Clifford is a name that keeps popping up in UK tech: a successful investor, Clifford also leads innovation and science as chair of the UK government's Advanced Research and Invention Agency, and holds an influential position as an advisor on AI to the government.
The 39-year-old has a CV to match: with degrees from Cambridge and MIT, he worked as a consultant at McKinsey before — at just 25 years old — co-founding Entrepreneurs First (EF), a talent-focused venture capital fund that seeks to introduce bright minds so they can find co-founders and help develop their ideas.
Getting in on the action
Clifford has said McKinsey was a "formative experience" but felt too far away from the real action. "So this idea formed in my head: what would the world look like if the most ambitious people in the UK didn’t become investment bankers and corporate lawyers and management consultants but actually built things – products and services that people actually wanted?" he said in an interview with his alma mater.
Since its founding in 2011, EF has invested in and supported companies that are now worth over $11 billion, and has backing from tech giants including LinkedIn's Reid Hoffman, DeepMind's Demis Hassabis, and Monzo's Tom Blomfield.
When Hoffman joined a $12.4 million funding round for EF in 2017, he said: "Unlike a traditional accelerator and incubator, EF focuses on recruiting individuals at any stage of their career, from recent graduates and postdoc researchers to engineers and business executives working [in] tech firms, to help them found a company."
After 12 years at the helm of EF, Clifford stepped down as CEO in 2023, although he remains its chair. Alongside EF, Clifford is the co-founder of Code First: Girls, an organisation that aims to shrink the tech gender gap by teaching women to code.
Founding ARIA and leading on AI
In 2022, Clifford was picked as the founding chair of the £800 million Advanced Research and Invention Agency, the UK government's attempt to set up something akin to the American DARPA, a public-funded science agency. He was also named to a government advisory body to help position the UK as the world's "next Silicon Valley".
In 2022, Clifford was picked as the founding chair of the £800 million Advanced Research and Invention Agency, the UK government's attempt to set up something akin to the American DARPA, a public-funded science agency. He was also named to a government advisory body to help position the UK as the world's "next Silicon Valley".
When the plan was announced this year, the government said it would implement all 50 recommendations, such as fast-tracking data centre infrastructure projects – including access to energy grids – and building a National Data Library.
Since January 2025, Clifford has acted as the prime minister's adviser on AI Opportunities.
Too much influence?
Critics, according to a report in the Financial Times last year, argue that Clifford has too much influence in setting AI policy in the UK — not only because he's unelected, but also because his focus has been AI safety.
AI safety may sound benign, but it refers to the bigger, existential threats raised by AI — the "we're all going to die" sort of concerns — rather than more immediate, albeit perhaps smaller issues, such as bias, inaccuracy, and copyright, as well as failing to focus on the potential benefits to the economy.
Indeed, Clifford has argued that AI companies should be allowed to use copyrighted content to train their systems. That opinion sparked backlash from the creative industry, raising complaints that the government too heavily favours tech, with critics noting Clifford has a conflict of interest given he invests in AI companies. Referencing Clifford, film director Beeban Kidron told The Guardian: “It is obvious, that if you only listen to those who stand to benefit from a policy then you will hear that it is a great idea."
Another critic told the FT that it was "puzzling" Clifford was able to go from running the AI Safety Summit to "basically crafting the government's AI strategy."
But others noted it's no wonder Clifford had such access as he was "warm and personable" and understood how to work with politicians.
