Multiverse opens Edinburgh tech hub and appoints first VP AI Engineering

The upskilling platform plans to create 200 jobs across Edinburgh and London as it builds agentic AI products and expands its internal AI training model.

Colin Mackenzie has been appointed as Multiverse’s first VP AI Engineering and will lead the company’s new Edinburgh technology hub

Multiverse has opened a new technology hub in Edinburgh and appointed former Amazon engineering executive Colin Mackenzie as its first VP AI Engineering, with plans to create 200 jobs across Edinburgh and London over the next 12 months.

The expansion follows Multiverse’s recent $70 million funding round and adds an engineering base outside London for the upskilling platform’s AI and tech adoption work.

Mackenzie will lead the Edinburgh hub and focus on developing agentic AI products. Multiverse said the new office will also support its internal upskilling model, which pairs junior AI engineers with senior engineering practitioners.

The company is hiring technical talent in Edinburgh and London as it builds products for employers using AI, data, and engineering apprenticeships to support workforce adoption.

Multiverse said the expansion will support employers across the UK and Europe.

Edinburgh hub follows funding round

Mackenzie joins Multiverse after more than a decade in engineering roles, including six years at Amazon. For the last three years, he worked on the generative AI platform behind Amazon’s AI advertising products.

His earlier roles include senior engineering positions at Virgin Money and Clydesdale Bank. He has also founded his own business and worked through a startup exit.

Colin Mackenzie, VP AI Engineering at Multiverse, says: "AI is changing how people work faster than they can retrain for it, and without equitable access to AI skills a lot of people get displaced and left behind. We need to innovate at pace to solve this problem, and thankfully Scotland has the world-class AI talent required to help us do it. When we get it right, we change lives at a national scale."

The Edinburgh hub gives Multiverse an additional technology base as the company works on agentic AI products and expands its engineering team beyond its London headquarters.

Internal AI skills model

Multiverse is also introducing an internal upskilling model for new and existing technical talent. The model pairs junior AI engineers with senior engineering staff, with mentorship treated as part of the engineering function rather than a separate training add-on.

The approach is designed to develop practical AI skills through on-the-job learning. Multiverse said the model will sit alongside its AI product and data engineering apprenticeships.

Jay Richman, Chief Product & Technology Officer at Multiverse, says: "We're building the AI adoption layer for UK and European employers. That requires depth in the product, and in the team building it. The market problem is significant: AI capability is advancing faster than workforces can absorb it, and employers are under real pressure to close that gap. Edinburgh gives us access to additional world-class engineering talent, Colin brings the track record to lead it, and our model of pairing high-agency junior engineers with senior practitioners means we're building capability as well as headcount."