‘AI is not here to displace employees’: Roop Singh

Version 1's CEO reflects on the firm’s Anthropic partnership, establishing new AI centres across the UK and the importance of sovereignty, risk and compliance

Version 1 is preparing to open new AI co-creation centres across the UK as the VAR accelerates its push to become an “AI-first organisation".

The planned sites will build on the company’s existing Dublin AI studio, where customers can work alongside the company to turn potential AI use cases into working prototypes.

Speaking to CRN just over a year after taking over as CEO, Roop Singh says AI has been one of his main strategic priorities since assuming the top job.

“One of the critical aspects for us is, how do we get Version 1 to really become the AI-first organisation or how do we ensure that we bring AI to our client base and also to market?” He says.

“I was very clear that AI is not a technology that displaces employees but strengthens the capability that employees have to develop for our customers.”

Version 1 has subsequently divided its approach into three areas.

The first involves using AI tools to improve the productivity and efficiency of employees working through traditional software development lifecycle models.

The second brings AI tooling into new customer engagements from the outset, while the third centres on agentic delivery models combining human workers and AI agents.

From use case to prototype

Singh says the company wanted to move away from lengthy AI discovery exercises before customers see a tangible result.

Instead, Version 1 has invested in co-creation facilities where customers can test use cases using AI agents, robotics and synthetic data.

Its Dublin facility allows discussions and information documented during sessions to be captured as requirements before tools are used to create a prototype.

“Before they walk out of that centre, they have a working prototype with them,” Singh says.

The company also operates innovation labs in India and Belfast.

Version 1 now intends to replicate its Dublin co-creation model in London, Edinburgh and potentially Brimingham.

“The co-creation [centre] which we’ve created in Dublin, we are now looking at setting up a centre in London,” notes Singh.

“We’re also setting up a centre in Edinburgh and potentially we'll be looking at setting up one in Birmingham."

The facilities will allow customers to work through areas including discovery, testing, code creation and design alongside Version 1’s teams.

The organisation's UK arm ranks number 39 on CRN's Top VARs list.

Anthropic takes centre stage

The firm's AI push has also reshaped its vendor relationships.

Singh explains that Version 1’s public sector footprint was one factor behind deepening its relationship with Anthropic, given the AI vendor’s own push into the sector.

“We saw that Anthropic was really making inroads into the public sector, and it made sense for both organisations to come together,” he tells CRN.

The CEO says Version 1 will continue assessing other partnerships as the market develops, while maintaining its longstanding relationships with Microsoft and Oracle.

Version 1 also works with technology companies including Databricks and ServiceNow in specific segments.

Sovereignty ‘absolutely critical’

As customers increase their use of AI, Singh expects sovereignty, risk and compliance to remain central to Version 1’s strategy.

The company’s strong public sector footprint means it already has to account for many of those considerations when deploying emerging technology.

“Sovereignty together with risk and compliance is absolutely critical,” Singh tells CRN.

“We want to deploy and work in the AI environment morally, ethically and with the relevant security measures that are in place.”

Version 1 has an internal cyber team evaluating developments in the area, with the company also looking to take those capabilities to customers.

“We have to be cognisant of any changes that come up, especially in the sovereignty area,” Singh adds.

Singh adds that the ultimate ambition is for Version 1 to become recognised as one of the companies leading customers from AI experimentation towards tangible deployments

“I would love to see our dominance in the AI segment.

“We have taken the journey with our customers and moved them towards the world of AI and how AI can actually provide productivity benefit in real-life examples to our customers.”

AI trained workforce

The organisation has also been working to prepare its own employees for the transition.

Singh says around 70 per cent of the company’s workforce is now AI trained.

The business employs around 3,700 people following the addition of approximately 550 employees through its CreateFuture buyout in April.

“We have invested significantly in the education across the organisation, both for the leadership team, the middle management team, as well as the folks that are actually delivering for our customers,” Singh says.

“That’s a critical element for us. We measure it. We actively seek it, and that’s a mandate for all our management team as well as the employees.”