Distinguished technology leader David Crozier has been appointed as director of the Artificial Intelligence Collaboration Centre (AICC), a multi-million-pound centre at Ulster University which will works to foster greater AI adoption in business and generate high-value jobs in the sector.
He brings more than 25 years of technology and policy expertise to the role, leading the state-of-the-art facility based at Ulster University’s Belfast and Derry campuses, and delivered in partnership with Queen’s University Belfast.
Launched as part of a £16.3 million investment by Invest NI and the Department for the Economy in March, the AICC exists to harness the power of AI technology for the benefit of business.
David said: “As an alumnus of Ulster University, I’m thrilled to return as director of the AI Collaboration Centre, where we’ll accelerate AI adoption across Northern Ireland’s key industries and cultivate essential talent.
“The AICC will forge strong links between academia and industry, driving competitiveness, generating high-value jobs, and establishing our region as a beacon of AI-accelerated innovation.
“I’m eager to collaborate with partners at Queen’s University, Invest NI, and the Department for the Economy to ensure the centre’s positive economic impact resonates throughout Northern Ireland and beyond.”
Awarded a CBE in the 2024 new year’s honours list for services to the economy, David was most recently chief executive of Software NI, the representative body of the north’s £1.7 billion software industry.
His tenure saw the membership base grow by 150% and the launch of a software strategy for the region, setting out ambitions to grow the sector to 50,000 jobs and £5 billion by 2035.
David - who previously worked for Invest NI - also spent over a decade at the Centre for Secure Information Technologies (CSIT) at Queen’s as head of strategic partnerships and engagement and previously served as deputy director of its Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Education (ACE-CSE) programme.
He was appointed to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) College of Experts in 2021, is a member of the NI Cyber Security Steering Group and since 2020 has been chair of SpecialisterneNI, an organisation that supports autistic and neurodivergent individuals in their career development.
The centre, which will have 25 staff, will promote AI adoption to boost competitiveness and productivity across all industries, including logistics, finance, life-sciences, manufacturing and agri-tech.
It will deliver 390 postgraduate AI qualifications and train thousands of workers across Northern Ireland via classroom-based or online skills training.
Professor Michaela Black, Professor of Artificial Intelligence at Ulster University, said: “We’re delighted to welcome David as director of the AICC, which works to increase AI adoption in business settings and develop new qualifications to secure the AI workforce of the future.
“His experience and connections in the technology sector, particularly across industry, education and academia will be invaluable in helping us achieve these goals and we look forward to working with David and in continued partnership with Queen’s University Belfast to ensure local businesses are supported to transform in line with the rate of AI development.”
