Graduates
People finishing degrees who have the foundations but not yet the project experience, employer contacts or evidence that gets a first AI or data role.
TechLocal project · Funded by UK Government
TechAccess NI: Connecting Local Talent to AI and Data Jobs
TechAccess NI is a UK Government-funded TechLocal project led by Trillectra AI Ltd with Ulster University and the Artificial Intelligence Collaboration Centre (AICC). It gives people in Northern Ireland employer-led AI and data training, mentoring, project work on real business challenges and a route into local jobs.
The project is funded through TechLocal: Connecting Local Talent to Local Tech Jobs, part of the TechFirst programme. Innovate UK administers the grant on behalf of the UK Government. The project runs from 1 July 2026 to 31 March 2027.
TechAccess NI is funded by the UK Government through TechLocal, part of the TechFirst programme, and delivered with Innovate UK as the grant delivery partner.
About the project
The project takes participants from training, through a real employer project and mentoring, to interviews with local employers.
The project brings learners, employers, mentors and training partners together in one programme. It has five parts:
- AI and data training designed with employers, taught on the tools they use
- Project work on business challenges set by Northern Ireland employers
- Mentoring and learner support throughout the programme
- Skills and evidence tracked on Vecorra, so every participant has a record employers can see
- Employer introductions, interview preparation and job matching
The difference from a conventional course is what participants leave with: not a certificate alone, but a record of skills, completed project work and mentor feedback that a local employer can look at and trust.
How the programme runs
- 1Train. AI and data training designed with employers, on the tools they use.
- 2Apply. A business challenge set by a Northern Ireland employer.
- 3Mentor. Mentoring and learner support throughout.
- 4Evidence. Skills and project work recorded on Vecorra.
- 5Connect. Interview preparation and job matching with local employers.
What we want to achieve
Two groups with a shared problem: people who want to work in AI and data but cannot get a first foothold, and local employers who cannot find the skills.
For learners, the project is a supported route into AI and data work: graduates, career changers and people who have never had a clear way into the technology sector.
For Northern Ireland employers, including SMEs, it is a way to meet people who have completed practical training, worked on a business challenge like theirs and been mentored, before deciding whether to hire.
Career changers
People already working who want to move into AI and data roles and need a structured, practical route rather than another course certificate.
People without a clear pathway
Anyone in Northern Ireland who has not had a visible route into the technology sector, whatever their background.
Northern Ireland employers and SMEs
Organisations that need AI, data and digital skills and want to meet people who have completed practical training, worked on a real business challenge and been mentored.
Why this matters for the community
Employers across Northern Ireland, in business services, healthcare, manufacturing, education, finance and the public sector, now need people who can work with data and AI. Many of those employers are small and cannot afford to hire on potential alone.
At the same time, many local people who could do this work never get the chance to show it. They lack practical experience, do not know anyone in the sector, are unsure which route to take and have no way of demonstrating what they can do.
TechAccess NI puts the two together: training shaped by what employers need, project work that produces evidence, and introductions that lead to interviews.
The project will help
- Local learners gain AI and data skills they can demonstrate to an employer
- Employers reach new and more diverse technical talent
- SMEs try out AI and data capability without taking on the full risk of a hire
- Participants build confidence through mentoring and applied project work
- Northern Ireland strengthens the pipeline into its digital workforce
The role of Trillectra AI and Vecorra
Trillectra AI leads the project and runs it on Vecorra, its platform for skills and evidence tracking.
Running the programme
Vecorra handles participant onboarding, skills tracking, mentoring records, employer matching, interview scheduling and outcome reporting, so the project team can see where every participant is and what they need next.
Evidence employers can trust
Each participant builds a record on Vecorra of what they have learned and built, and employers can use it to find candidates whose skills match the work they need done.
Our commitment
Trillectra AI trains data scientists and AI engineers and builds AI systems for organisations. TechAccess NI applies both to one place, Northern Ireland, with public funding and a duty to show what it achieved.
We want the project to leave behind a stronger and more open route into AI and data work in Northern Ireland: local people with the confidence, evidence and contacts to get technology jobs, and employers who know where to find them.
About the funding: TechFirst is the UK Government's tech skills programme, run by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. TechLocal is its regional grant fund. Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, ran the TechLocal competition and administers the grant. Read more about research and funded work at Trillectra AI.
Interested in TechAccess NI?
Employers who would like to set a business challenge or meet participants, and learners who want to register interest, can contact the project team.