The next step: the impact of applying social care AI at scale

There has been a deluge of conversations about AI in the past few years. Startups, pilots, initiatives all vying for attention and acclaim. Even in social care we couldn’t help but get swept up in the excitement at times. Now we have had time for the storm to settle, we can review the lasting impacts and tangible benefits of applying AI in social care. Nourish Confidence was built exclusively for, and inclusively with, care and support providers. We invite you to join our panel as they share their experience applying Confidence at scale across their respective services. From improving compliance and governance to promoting a culture of continuous learning. Revisit our panel from @careshowuk where we explored the impact of Nourish Confidence for social care providers This session took place on day 1 of The Care Show 2026 Our COO Paul Barnes and Clinical Lead Carrie Taylor were joined by Mike Cleasby, Chief Quality and Risk Officer, ‪@nationalcaregroupUK‬ and Mark Hoult-Allen, Director, Mark Hoult-Allen Consulting who managed Confidence's rollout for ‪@ChoiceCareCommunity‬ Mike Cleasby is Chief Quality and Risk Officer at National Care Group, a role he has held for the past seven years. With more than 35 years' experience across a range of leadership and management positions in health and social care, Mike is passionate about driving quality, improving outcomes, and ensuring services remain centred on the people they support. Throughout his career, Mike has championed person-centred approaches, continuous improvement, and the delivery of safe, high-quality care. His professional perspective is complemented by personal experience as the proud father of two daughters, one of whom has a learning disability and autism, giving him a unique appreciation of the importance of truly inclusive and responsive support services. Outside of work, Mike volunteers with BloodRun EVS and supports local communities through parkrun. He is passionate about making a positive difference, both professionally and personally, and is committed to helping shape a future where people can live their best lives. Mark began his career in stage and theatre management, working in the commercial and subsidised theatre. He held a number of roles in the arts funding sector including Head of National Touring and then Director of Business Process for Arts Council England. Following the Arts Council, Mark spent nearly seven years at Comic Relief, firstly as Head of Grants Operations, then Head of Business Planning and Process and for a short period as Director of Operations. He now has his own consultancy company specialising in governance, compliance and business system analysis and improvement. His clients include Choice Care Group, Barnardo’s, Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust, Be The Business and Marie Curie. Mark is currently Project managing the implementation of Nourish for the Choice Care Group. 0:00 Introduction 3:11 How Nourish developed their AI, Confidence 6:00 Confidence in use 7:42 National Care Group's Nourish journey 9:40 Choice Care Group's Nourish journey 11:58 AI as a tool 13:55 AI supporting audits at scale 15:35 Human in the Loop 17:00 Trusting the system 19:27 Compliance & Regulator 23:02 Impact of Confidence 26:20 The future