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London-based AI firm creates more than 100 jobs in Belfast

Gráinne Connolly
BBC News NI
BBC Napier AI's CEO Greg Watson, Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald and Invest NI CEO Kieran Donoghue stand holding a large white sign with NapierAI written on it. Mr Watson is wearing a navy quarter-zip jumper, Ms Archibald is wearing a burgundy coat and Mr Donoghue is wearing a navy coat and a striped scarf.BBC
Napier AI's chief executive Greg Watson, Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald and Invest NI chief executive Kieran Donoghue attended the announcement on Tuesday

A London-based artificial intelligence (AI) company is creating more than 100 jobs at its new office in Belfast.

Napier AI provides technology to help banks and other financial institutions detect and prevent criminal behaviour, such as money laundering.

The firm, which was founded in 2015 and employs 250 people, moved into its new office at Pearl Assurance in the city centre last week.

Twenty-five of the 106 new jobs are already in place, with the remaining roles expected to be filled by 2027.

The new roles come with average salaries of more than £46,000.

Once the jobs are filled, Napier AI said it will contribute almost £5m in additional salaries to the Northern Ireland economy.

Greg Watson, chief executive of Napier AI, said the company's mission is to tackle what he describes as a "blight in society" – money laundering.

"Money laundering is incredibly successful unfortunately," he said.

"3.2 trillion dollars a year is laundered, so we're trying to bring automation AI to try and solve that and we feel like we're making a big difference."

Greg Watson, Napier NI CEO, is standing in a white room with a large window behind him. He has short grey hair and is wearing a dark coloured zip jumper.
Mr Watson says Northern Ireland's talent pools led to a decision to base itself in Belfast

Mr Watson said the firm's decision to expand into Northern Ireland followed a "really extensive search globally" on locations, including Warsaw, Porto and Lisbon.

"We felt there was talent pools we could tap and we looked at about 12 different countries," he said.

"We looked at the talent and some of the benefits here, the location, the language, the whole thing and we're super excited about growing a presence here."

Mr Watson said the roles include high-end research and development positions.

"A lot of AI skills, a lot of development skills. We believe the talent coming out of the universities and the talent in the general area is super impressive and we feel like we're going to have a big future here."

'Vote of confidence in NI'

Caoimhe Archibald is standing in front of large windows and is smiling at the camera. She has shoulder-length hair and is wearing a pair of large-framed glasses. She is also wearing a burgundy coat, a black top and a floral patterned scarf.
The economy minister says the jobs would be attractive to young people aspiring to have careers in the industry

Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald said the announcement of about £10m in investment by the company is a "vote of confidence" for Northern Ireland.

"These are high-tech jobs in what is a priority sector for us as an executive, and they really closely align with what we're trying to achieve in terms of our economic vision," she told BBC News NI.

"It's an exciting company that has chosen to base itself here in Belfast because of what we have to offer in terms of a location, but also that skill talent pool that is coming through our universities and colleges, so this is a really positive announcement."

Kieran Donoghue - man with short brown hair, brown scarf, navy coat and tie and white shirt
Invest NI's Kieran Donoghue says this is good news for Northern Ireland

Invest NI's chief executive Kieran Donoghue said it was "wonderful news" for Northern Ireland.

The creation of "very high quality jobs" in data science, software engineering and professional services would help raise Northern Ireland's profile to other tech companies, he added.