A presentation at World IA Day London 2026 in in London, UK by London World IA Day
Discoverability by Design: Data, Information and AI Jenny Brooker, Chief Data Architect at GDS Jody Parker, Head of Government Knowledge and Information Management at GDS London 2026 #Designing4Meaning #wiad26
How is AI reshaping user behaviour? The way people find, consume and act on information has changed forever. Large language models aren’t just new tools - they represent a fundamental shift in how people seek, consume and interact with information. Users no longer just search and browse; they increasingly converse, delegate and expect answers. This behavioural transformation has profound implications for the data systems and infrastructure that power modern organisations.
What does AI mean for Enterprise Data? Whether structured or unstructured, AI changes what your data needs to be prepared, contextualised, and reachable. Unstructured Data Structured Data The dark matter of the enterprise - Built for machines, but AI demands it abundant and largely invisible. LLMs speaks to humans too - can unlock it at scale, but only with self-describing schemas, clean data, proper governance. and lineage as infrastructure. • • Legacy access & poor permissions • Dispersed sensitivities • Missing/corrupted metadata • Duplicate/outdated content ROT Self-describing schemas & semantic layers • Clean data - dirty inputs = wrong AI answers • Lineage graphs as core infrastructure • Documentation as a first-class concern
Discoverability by Design: Metadata is sexy again Metadata is now the connective tissue between content and AI’s ability to reason over it. Tagging for Hierarchy Reliability of AI Outputs Discoverability as Architecture Structured tags help AI retrieve the right Well structured content reduces hallucination Every artefact - document, dataset, API - content - not just any content. and improves precision born with rich metadata from day one.
The one thing every IA professional must do If there is one single, urgent action for information architects, data architects, data engineers and technical product leaders - it is this: make information and data discoverable by design, not by chance.
Discoverability by Design: Data, Information and AI
As our organisations drown in data and content, meaning is the real bottleneck. This session brings Jenny Brooker, Chief Data Architect and Jody Parker, Head of Government Knowledge and Information Management, together to explore shared content heaps, lifecycle challenges and how AI is blurring the boundary between data and information. A fast‑paced discussion on discoverability and how AI is making metadata sexy again.
Biographies Jenny Brooker is Chief Data Architect at the UK Government Digital Service. She is passionate about the power of data to change behaviour, inform government policy, and make a difference to people’s lives.
With a background in computer science and experience in GIS systems and Open Data products, Jenny has led a team that specialises in data architecture, privacy, and security.
Her team is focused on embedding user research into their specialisms to ensure they provide great services.
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Jenny’s leadership and expertise are instrumental in driving digital transformation in government and improving public services through data sharing and AI.
As Head of Government KIM at Government Digital Service Jody leads cross‑government work to shape information and records management practices for the digital age, including the use of automation, AI and machine learning to tackle digital heaps.
Jody brings a product‑led approach to policy, combining user research, analysis and collaboration with departments and professional communities to produce policy that works in practice.
A core part of her current role is supporting and strengthening the government KIM profession so that policy, practice and delivery are better aligned.
Jody is the Government KIM Profession discipline lead for Information Architecture.
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