The specific damage Kendall's admission does is structural, not reputational. Policy feedback loops depend on decision-makers having skin in the outcomes they are steering. When the official overseeing AI adoption , she is also confirming that her assessments of AI's readiness, limitations, and risks will be secondhand. Secondhand assessments can be accurate — but they cannot self-correct the way firsthand experience does. The £500 million fund will be distributed without the person distributing it having tested the ground it is meant to…