Version 1

Northern Ireland: Version 1's Centre for AI and Digital Delivery

Belfast is Version 1's largest UK hub and one of its most strategically important locations globally. What started with four people in 2012 is now a team of over 600 professionals delivering enterprise technology and AI solutions to clients across the world. The decision to invest in Northern Ireland has proved right, and the company is going deeper, not diversifying away.

Version 1 partners with global technology organisations such as Oracle, Microsoft, and AWS and has recently become one of the first few preferred services partner to Anthropic (the company behind Claude AI) to deliver enterprise resource planning, cloud and AI-powered services to public and private sector clients. Belfast sits at the centre of this work.

Why Northern Ireland made sense - talent with the right profile

Leading universities such as Queen's University Belfast and Ulster University produce graduates in software engineering, cloud, data science and machine learning at a scale that matches Version 1's hiring pace. Unlike some UK cities where demand from financial services and big tech firms absorbs most of the available pool, Belfast's talent market has remained accessible to a company growing at Version 1's rate. Graduate recruitment programmes and apprenticeships build long-term capability and locally funded programmes delivered through the colleges, such as the Digital Skills Academies, offer additional routes for those coming from diverse backgrounds in tech.  

A cost structure that supports investment in people

Belfast's cost base is more competitive than comparable UK tech cities and this allows for reinvestment in people and infrastructure. It is part of why the Belfast office has grown steadily without sacrificing delivery quality.

Support from Invest Northern Ireland and an ecosystem that rewards collaboration

Version 1 benefited from direct support from Invest Northern Ireland during its early years in Belfast and continues to enjoy a collaborative relationship that provides access to funding, local networks and market knowledge. Belfast's wider technology community spans established firms, academic research groups and a growing number of scale-ups and the company operates at the centre of that environment, particularly as its work has moved further into AI, where academic partnerships and peer networks accelerate applied capability more than operating in isolation.

Version 1's AI strategy: Belfast at the centre

Artificial intelligence is now central to how Version 1 delivers value and Belfast is where much of that capability sits. Its strategy focuses on three areas: embedding AI into existing enterprise platforms, building standalone AI-powered products and accelerators, and helping clients move from AI pilots to production. The Belfast team works across all these areas, helping clients across government, healthcare, finance and utilities that are under pressure to show AI results, not just AI experiments.  

Northern Ireland's research base also strengthens this approach, with Queen's and Ulster both having active AI and data science research. Version 1 has developed relationships with those institutions that inform its technical direction and support specialist hiring.

What comes next

Version 1 remains committed to deepening its roots in Northern Ireland, with plans to continue expanding its workforce and capabilities in the region. The Belfast office is now a cornerstone of the company’s long-term strategy, reflecting the success of its people-first approach and its belief in the power of regional innovation to drive national and international impact.