Vol. VI · No. 1 · Established 2020Public-interest data science · London & remotePrice: one introduction
The
Data Unit
Dispatches from the Autonomy Data UnitA wing of the Autonomy InstituteSince 2020
Data science, pointed at power.
Six data scientists and machine-learning engineers, working as the research and development arm of the Autonomy Institute. We scrape the filings nobody reads, run language models across millions of documents, and turn the result into evidence that unions, charities, newsrooms and campaigners can act on. The joke we tell about ourselves is that we left Palantir for the other side. The serious version: this is the data arm of the public interest. We have been doing it since 2020, starting the week the pandemic hit, and we have not stopped.
What we do
№ 01
Network analysis
We scrape filings, donations, contracts and the open web, then use language models to pull out entities and the links between them. The output is a map of who is connected to whom, and what changed hands.
№ 02
Economic & labour modelling
Microsimulation, input-output models, and bespoke indices. When the existing statistics do not answer the question, we build the measure that does and show our working.
№ 03
Document intelligence
LLM extraction across millions of pages: annual reports, registers, planning files. We turn unstructured text into a dataset you can query, with the source kept attached to every fact.
№ 04
Tools & data products
Public-facing searchable databases, trackers and indexes. The work does not stop at a PDF. We ship things people can use, and we keep them running.
The front page
Plate I. Millions of pages, scraped and linked. The Authoritarian Stack, 2025.
Investigation · Network analysis · 2025
The Authoritarian Stack
We scraped millions of pages to map the modern far right and trace its connections to money and power across America and Europe. Built with the Autonomy Institute, published as a standalone site that reads like a wiring diagram of the post-democratic project.
Six people. No account managers, no layers. You talk to the person doing the work, and the work is built to be checked. We take on projects for unions, charities, newsrooms and campaigners, and most of our work arrives through someone we already know.
If that is you, the email is at the bottom of the page.
Lukas Kikuchi
Lead · ML & data engineering
Bhargav Srinivasa Desikan
Data science · ML research
Sean Greaves
NLP · network analysis
Sonia Balagopalan
Investigations · political data
Luiz Garcia
Economic modelling
Jeremy Kwok
Forecasting · statistics
Who we work for
AI Security InstituteJoseph Rowntree FoundationJoseph Rowntree Reform TrustEquityUnite the UnionITUCGood Law ProjectThe Bureau of Investigative JournalismCentre for Investigative JournalismFuture Economy ScotlandSpotlight on CorruptionTfL / GLA