According to TheRegister.com, in her first public speech on December 15, 2025, new MI6 chief Blaise Metreweli declared that the UK’s Secret Intelligence Service now operates in a “space between peace and war.” The former director of technology, known internally as ‘Q’, stated that advances in AI, biotech, and quantum computing are creating science fiction-like tools that are rewriting conflict. She highlighted Russia as a primary threat, using cyberattacks, drones, and propaganda to export chaos just below the threshold of war. To counter this, Metreweli announced that MI6 officers will need to become “as fluent in Python as we are in multiple other languages,” with recruitment targeting data scientists and engineers alongside traditional linguists. She also referenced the agency’s Silent Courier dark web portal, launched in September, for communicating with informants.
The Rise of the Technical Spy
So, spies need to code now. That’s the big takeaway. And honestly, it makes a ton of sense on paper. The old image of the spy swapping film canisters in a park is, well, ancient history. Modern intelligence is swimming in data—satellite imagery, intercepted digital communications, vast social media networks. You need people who can not just speak the language of a foreign asset, but also the language of the database where that asset’s information lives. Metreweli’s background as the agency’s tech chief (‘Q’, no less) signals this shift is dead serious. She’s not just paying lip service; she’s literally from the department she wants to empower. Recruiting linguists and data scientists under the same roof is a fascinating, and probably necessary, blend of the old and new schools.
The Grey Zone is Digital
Here’s the thing: her description of a “space between peace and war” is the most crucial part. It’s not about tanks rolling over borders anymore. It’s about constant, deniable, low-grade aggression. Russian drones buzzing power stations, Chinese hackers lurking in corporate networks for years, algorithmically-targeted disinformation campaigns that sow societal division. These are the new battlefields. And they’re perfect for authoritarian states because they create maximum chaos with minimal accountability. How do you declare war on a line of malicious code or a viral TikTok trend? You can’t. So the response has to be equally nuanced, blending traditional counter-intelligence with hardcore digital forensics and cyber defense. It’s a messy, complicated fight.
Skepticism and Human Judgement
But let’s not get carried away with the “Python over everything” hype. Metreweli herself cautioned against this. She stressed that AI will “augment, not replace, our human skills,” and that “only people can decide which path to follow.” That’s the right instinct. Intelligence isn’t just about collecting data points; it’s about analysis, context, and understanding human motives—things algorithms are notoriously bad at. You can have the slickest data pipeline in the world, but if you lack the cultural and historical insight to interpret what it means, you’re lost. The risk is that in the rush to hire coders, the service might undervalue the deep, patient, human-centric tradecraft that has always been its core. Finding that balance will be her real challenge.
A New Kind of Openness
It’s also wild to think about MI6 having a public-facing chief giving speeches and talking about dark web portals like Silent Courier. That’s a huge cultural shift for an organization defined by secrecy. This openness is partly a recruitment tool—how else do you attract top tech talent who have lucrative private sector options? You have to show them the mission matters. But it’s also a defensive move. In an era where public trust in institutions is shaky, and where secrets are harder than ever to keep, some strategic transparency might be the best policy. Basically, they’re trying to control their own narrative. Will it work? It’s a gamble. But in the grey zone, you have to try new things. Even if that means your spies are debugging Python scripts instead of just dead drops.
