David Crozier CBE
Director, AICC
David leads the AICC’s operations and oversees strategic collaborations with industry, academia, and key partners.
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David Crozier CBE
Director, AICC
A distinguished leader in Northern Ireland's technology sector, David Crozier was awarded a CBE in the 2024 New Year Honours for services to the economy. Since August 2024 he has been Director of the £16.3m Artificial Intelligence Collaboration Centre (AICC), a partnership between Ulster University and Queen's University Belfast funded by Invest Northern Ireland and the Department for the Economy, and named in the Northern Ireland Programme for Government 2024–27 as a delivery vehicle for economic transformation.
Under his leadership, the AICC is accelerating the responsible adoption of artificial intelligence across Northern Ireland’s economy. By combining practical, hands-on business support with expert policy guidance, collaborative research and skills development, AICC is making AI more accessible, relevant and actionable. This work is building confidence, capability and trust in AI, while strengthening Northern Ireland’s position as a leader in responsible AI innovation on the national and global stage.
He was reappointed to the DSIT College of Experts in June 2026, having first been appointed to its DCMS predecessor by the Chief Scientific Adviser in 2021, and advises the Northern Ireland Executive through the Ministerial Economic Vision Engagement Forum and the AI Advisory Panel. He was Highly Commended for AI Champion of the Year at the National AI Awards 2026. His advocacy centres on the proposition that regional competitive advantage in AI accrues to those who diffuse the technology through the wider economy rather than those who build frontier systems.
From 2023 to 2024 he was CEO of Software NI, representing Northern Ireland's £1.7 billion software industry, where he grew the membership by over 150 per cent and launched the ten year "50 and Five by 35" strategy. He previously spent over a decade at Queen's University Belfast's Centre for Secure Information Technologies as Head of Strategic Partnerships and Engagement. Earlier roles span Invest NI, Lagan Technologies, the Northern Ireland Office, Jinny Software and Intel Corporation; in 2015 he co-founded and led the spin-out of AI cybersecurity start-up Liopa Ltd.
David holds a BSc (Hons) in Computing Science and an MSc in Innovation and Entrepreneurship, both from Ulster University. He chaired SpecialisterneNI, which supports autistic and neurodivergent people in their careers, for two terms from 2020 to 2024.
Outside of work, David’s three growing boys keep him busy and in his free time he enjoys woodworking, restoring old hand tools. He put his skills to good use, recently completing a new garden room with a little help from his wife and children. He loves exploring the Lagan towpath on Sunday mornings with his family, looking out for herons and kingfishers, and grabbing brunch at the Lockkeepers.
A lifelong tech enthusiast, David’s first computer in the 80s was a BBC Micro, an experience that sparked his passion for technology. Meeting its co-designer, Professor Andy Hopper, Co-founder of Acorn Computers, remains a career highlight and David believes that you should always meet your heroes. David is inspired by people who achieve success despite challenges, and he’s passionate about showcasing local talent on the global stage.
Professor Seth Bullock
Director, AI for Collective Intelligence Research Hub (AI4CI)
Seth is a professor in the School of Computer Science at the University of Bristol and his research interests span artificial intelligence, artificial life, evolutionary biology and cognitive science.
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Professor Seth Bullock
Director, AI for Collective Intelligence Research Hub (AI4CI)
Seth is a professor in the School of Computer Science at the University of Bristol. His research interests span artificial intelligence, artificial life, evolutionary biology and cognitive science and he has worked on applying computational modelling approaches to a diverse set of topics ranging from archaeology to zoology with a particular focus on understanding collective behaviour in natural and artificial systems. He has twice been elected to the board of the International Society for Artificial Life, has undertaken consultancy for the UK government on complexity in ICT and financial systems, and is a fellow of the European Centre for Living Technology. He is currently Director of the UKRI National Research Hub in AI for Collective Intelligence.
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Lorraine Acheson
Independent Policy, Strategy & Leadership Consultancy
Lorraine Acheson is an independent consultant and facilitator with more than 25 years' experience working across healthcare, innovation and economic development.
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Lorraine Acheson
Independent Policy, Strategy & Leadership Consultancy
Lorraine Acheson is an independent consultant and facilitator with more than 25 years' experience working across healthcare, innovation and economic development. She specialises in leading complex stakeholder discussions, helping organisations explore challenging issues, identify opportunities and build consensus for change. Lorraine regularly works with senior leaders across the public, private and voluntary sectors.
Connect with Lorraine Acheson of LinkedIn
Professor Michaela Black
Professor of Artificial Intelligence, Ulster University
Michaela's career has seen her apply AI and gamification to a wide range of domains including healthcare, finance, education, telecoms and marketing with 70+ publications and securing £30M+ in pedagogic and research funding.
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Professor Michaela Black
Professor of Artificial Intelligence, Ulster University
Michaela's career has seen her apply AI and gamification to a wide range of domains including healthcare, finance, education, telecoms and marketing with 70+ publications and securing £30M+ in pedagogic and research funding. She has actively engaged in a wide range of AI projects securing funding from a wide range of funders including coordinating an EU-funded project MIDAS (Meaningful Integration of Data, Analytics and Services) 2016-2020.
This 40-month project, secured €4.5m in funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme. It delivered Data Science hardware and software solutions to connect fragmented health data and enable policymakers across 4+ European countries to analysis data and enhance policies across a range of diverse topics such as: mental health, obesity, diabetes and looked after children, as well as sharing and ensuring uptake of Ethics & Governance for data access practices such as MIDAS Honest Broker Service.
She was a member of a consortium of researchers from the public and private sectors of nine European countries who has just secured EC funding for LUCIA: Understanding Lung Cancer related risk factors and their Impact (£12.5M) seeking to improve the outcome of lung cancer by providing in-depth knowledge of the risk factors and facilitating prevention and early diagnosis. Michaela is currently PI of newly launched AI Collaboration Centre (AICC £16.3M), a collaboration between Ulster and Queens focusing on increasing business awareness, skills and adoption of AI technology to boost competitiveness and productivity across all industries in NI.
As an academic lead she is helping formulate the outline business case for City Deal Cognitive Analytics & Digital Robotics Innovation Centre (CADRIC £39M) driving multi-disciplinary innovation necessary to translate the benefits of Ulster University’s leading-edge research in data driven disciplines such as bio-inspired AI and cognitive robotics, into economic, environmental, and social benefits for NI. Michaela is a current co-director of the engage technology, a stakeholder participation system, proven and effective platform for gaining participant input and key consensus on relevant topics using real-time digital technologies.
Engage has delivered successful engagements in partnership with organisations across government, industry, professional bodies, PPIs, NGOs and academia, on the island of Ireland and across Europe. This work has influenced topics such as Brexit, work force planning in Department of Health and Matrix NI Policy on Women in STEM. An active STEM ambassador, Michaela strives to encourage more women to join this field. Actively part of the Athena Swan (AS) team at UU to promote diversity and equality. She secured EPSRC funding with University of Bath Inclusion Matters Scheme, to host a datathon which aimed to improve equality, diversity and inclusion within the engineering and physical sciences.
Mark Lee
Director of Higher Education, Department for the Economy
Mark has been instrumental in shaping the future of higher education in Northern Ireland.
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Mark Lee
Director of Higher Education, Department for the Economy
Mark has had an extensive career in the civil service, most recently as head of the Department for Economy’s Economic Policy Group, overseeing a wide range of interventions to boost economic growth. This included the launch of the Economy Minister’s AI Panel. Mark has also headed up work overseeing higher education in the Department for Economy, managing a £1bn budget across student support, teaching and research, as well as leading departmental work on tertiary education reform.
Prior to joining the Department for Economy Mark worked in the Department of Health. Throughout covid-19 he led the Department’s adult social care policy teams, including work across older people’s services, mental health and disability. Mark also headed up primary care for the Department – overseeing the roll-out of multi-disciplinary teams in GP practices – and healthcare transformation, including the launch of the Encompass programme.
Mark also has extensive experience in Whitehall, working on planning reform, housing delivery and preventing extremism in MHCLG and with stints in the Cabinet Office and the Northern Ireland Office.
Kathryn Harkin (AICC Advisory Board Chair)
Head of AI Northern Ireland, NTT DATA Inc.
Kathryn has over 25 years of experience in the technology industry.
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Kathryn Harkin (AICC Advisory Board Chair)
Head of AI Northern Ireland, NTT DATA Inc.
Kathryn has over 25 years of experience in the technology industry. Since 2017, she has been at the forefront of leading Artificial Intelligence teams and her expertise lies in building AI teams from the ground up – partnering with academia to apply the latest technologies to real-world problems.
As Head of AI for Northern Ireland at NTT DATA, Inc., Kathryn plays a key role in shaping and advancing the organisation’s AI strategy, driving innovation and supporting the responsible adoption of AI.
At FinTrU, Kathryn led the company’s AI function and worked with the wider team to create technology-enabled solutions to address Client Lifecycle Management challenges for Investment Banking and Wealth Management clients.
Kathryn holds a BSc in Geophysics from Queen’s University, Belfast, and an MSc and PhD in Geophysics from University College Dublin. In September 2024, she was appointed Chair of the Advisory Board of the Artificial Intelligence Collaboration Centre (AICC), further solidifying her commitment to advancing AI research and development and its application to industry.
Patricia O’Hagan MBE
Co Founder, Core Systems
With an engineering background specialising in software and product development, Patricia is co-founder and former CEO of Core Systems, a global leader in prisoner self-service technology.
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Patricia O’Hagan MBE
Co Founder, Core Systems
With an engineering background specialising in software and product development, Patricia is co-founder and former CEO of Core Systems, a global leader in prisoner self-service technology. With over 20 years of experience in Corrections Technology, Patricia has driven innovation in the custodial sector, advising prison and correctional services worldwide on digital transformation.
An advocate for innovation and collaboration, Patricia chairs the AI subcommittee of the American Probation and Parole Association (APPA) Technology Committee and speaks internationally on leveraging technology to address complex challenges in the Justice sector.
Closer to home, Patricia is Deputy Chair of Matrix, an independent industry panel advising the government on the commercial exploitation of science and technology.
She is also a dedicated member of the AICC board, where she voices the needs of local entrepreneurs and SMEs, helping to leverage the transformative opportunities AI offers to drive growth and innovation.
