Kyndryl’s decision to create a new tech hub in the city solidifies its position as a strong region for tech talent and innovation.

Earlier this week (26 February), software player Kyndryl launched its new technology hub in Liverpool, which aims to support digital transformation for its UK and global customers.

The new hub will create 1,000 new software engineering and AI-related jobs over the next three years and will drive tech innovation in the region.

Speaking to SiliconRepublic.com, Kyndryl’s president for the UK and Ireland, John Chambers, said the company was particularly drawn to the Liverpool region because of its strong talent pool and strategic focus on AI infrastructure.

“Although Kyndryl already has a significant presence in London to successfully serve large customers across every sector of the UK economy, Liverpool’s rising reputation as a hub for digital excellence – evidenced by the success of last year’s AI Summit – reinforced our decision to invest and expand our UK footprint here,” he said.

The new technology hub will include a Kyndryl Vital Studio. The studio will offer a designer-led co-creation experience that will allow customers to tackle complex and real-world business challenges.

Meanwhile, Kyndryl Consult, the company’s advisory arm, will help businesses to adopt AI, software and platform engineering solutions.

Kyndryl collaborated closely with central UK government departments and local government agencies. Chambers said their support was “invaluable” in navigating the regional ecosystem.

“The strong partnership with the Liverpool City combined authority has proved vital in connecting the dots and establishing the right conditions for our success. Bringing together assistance from both central and local government has been key to realising our ambitions in the region.”

A boost for Liverpool jobs

The new hub brings 1,000 new roles to the region, all of which will be hybrid. Chambers said the company will focus on data and AI, product development, platform engineering and testing roles.

In the data and AI space, this means Kyndryl is looking for skills in machine learning principles, predictive models, classification models, forecasting, neural networks, transformers, reinforcement learning, generative adversarial networks, large language models and prompt engineering.

For product development, Chambers said the company is looking for cloud-native skills including React, iOS and Android, coupled with back-end development in micro services, APIs, containers and databases.

Those looking for roles in platform engineering will need deep skills in DevSecOps, CI/CD pipelines, control planes, observability and independent developer portals as well as skills in terraform, Kubernetes, underpinned by strong skills in Azure, AWS and GCP.

For a job in the testing space, professionals will need skills in integration, system, performance, security and penetration testing.

“All of this is underpinned by software engineering principles and programming/scripting/query languages such as Python, SQL, JavaScript. HTML and terraform,” he said. “We couple this with soft skills in communication and collaboration using modern ways of working such as Agile, DevOps and SRE.”

Don’t miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic’s digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.