Multiverse opens Edinburgh tech hub and hires former Amazon leader Colin Mackenzie as VP AI Engineering
Multiverse, an AI powered workforce development platform fronted by Euan Blair (son of former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair), has announced the opening of a new technology hub in Edinburgh. Following its recent $70 million funding round, the hub marks an expansion of Multiverse's engineering footprint, placing an additional centre outside of London.
Former Amazon leader Colin Mackenzie has been appointed as the company’s first VP AI Engineering to lead it, and will focus on developing agentic products.
Mackenzie brings more than a decade of engineering leadership experience to the role, most recently spending six years at Amazon. For the last three years he has built the generative AI platform that powers Amazon’s AI advertising products. Prior to this he held senior engineering roles at Virgin Money and Clydesdale Bank, saw a startup through to a successful exit, and founded his own business.
As part of its broader expansion, Multiverse is aiming to create 200 jobs in the next year across the new office and its London HQ, while continuing to grow revenue per employee. This, it says, will fuel its mission to translate AI’s potential into practical outcomes for employers across the UK and Europe.
Mackenzie 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."
Jay Richman, Chief Product & Technology Officer, 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."
2026 RTIH Innovation Awards
AI will be a key focus area at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards.
The awards are now open for entries and celebrate global retail technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.
Our winners will be revealed at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London on Wednesday, 4th November.
Check out our 2025 winners here.
Our 2025 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The HAC on 16th October and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson.
In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “This is the awards’ fifth year as a physical event. We started off with just 30 people at the South Place Hotel not far from here, then moved to London Bridge Hotel, then The Barbican, and last year RIBA’s HQ in the West End.”
“But I’m conscious of the fact that, to quote the legend that is Taylor Swift, You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby. So, this year we’ve moved to our biggest venue yet, and also pulled in our largest number of entries to date and broken attendance records.”
He added: “This year’s submissions have without doubt been our best yet. To quote one of the judges: The examples of innovative developments across both traditional and digital retail spaces were truly remarkable.”
Congratulations to our winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Tiff Stevenson, and all those who attended our 2025 gathering.
