We’re delighted to welcome Ming Ze Tang who is our new Digital Platform Development Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) Associate. Ming Ze will be leading our next phase of data-driven innovation.
A new KTP collaboration with Queen’s University Belfast and Innovate UK
We’re pleased to launch a new KTP between Sapphire, Queen’s University Belfast, and Innovate UK.
KTPs are a UK-wide programme, supported by Innovate UK, that connect forward-thinking businesses with academic expertise. Through this collaboration, we are working closely with specialist researchers at Queen’s to accelerate the development of a digital platform that will transform how we manage data and support our investors.
Over the next 24 months, this partnership will bring together academic insight and Sapphire’s hands-on fund management experience, with Ming Ze acting as the bridge between the two.
Getting to Know Ming Ze
As Digital Platform Development KTP Associate, Ming Ze brings a strong blend of software engineering and AI experience, including time at the University of Aberdeen and academic research focused on Large Language Models (LLMs).
This mix of solid engineering foundations and modern AI expertise underpins the role, drawing on skills in:
Why a Knowledge Transfer Partnership? And why Sapphire?
The KTP Associate role is deliberately hybrid: part technologist, part translator, part collaborator. Ming Ze sits at the intersection of Queen’s academic team and Sapphire’s day-to-day operations, turning leading-edge AI research into practical solutions for investors, founders, and our internal team.
Just as important is the human side. From the outset, Ming Ze has focused on building strong relationships with both the Sapphire team and Queen’s, guided by a simple philosophy:“Meet new people and make friends, not just work for the sake of working.”
What we are building and why it matters
Over the next two years, Ming Ze will lead the development of a new digital platform for Sapphire. The platform will bring together data and turn it into actionable insight.
Today, much of this information sits in spreadsheets, reports, emails, and disparate systems, making it hard to use in real time. This creates friction when monitoring portfolio performance, assessing risk, and preparing investor updates.
The new platform aims to change that by automating data collection and processing, giving users “single‑click” access to what they need: from portfolio trends and key risk indicators to clear, investor-ready summaries.
How AI and LLMs fit in
Technically, the roadmap includes:
Deploying LLMs to interpret unstructured data and generate accurate written outputs.
Building robust software systems with well‑designed APIs to integrate existing tools and data sources.
Using cloud infrastructure for scalability, reliability, and security.
Applying strong data governance and secure handling of sensitive financial information.
For investors, this should mean more timely and accurate reporting, clearer visibility of portfolio performance and emerging risks, and more consistent, transparent communication grounded in high-quality data.
Rather than replacing human judgement, the platform will provide better information, faster thereby freeing our team to focus on analysis, decision-making, and supporting founders.
A genuinely collaborative partnership
This KTP is built on collaboration. Day-to-day, Ming Ze will work closely with Sapphire colleagues to understand workflows, listen to investor needs, and iterate on the platform’s design, while also engaging with Queen’s University Belfast through Steering and Management Groups.
The aim is not only to deliver a platform, but also to lift the overall level of digital and data capability across the firm.
Investing in people as well as technology
The KTP model also emphasises personal development. Over the two years, Ming Ze aims to:
Deepen technical expertise in software systems, AI, and LLMs.
Build experience leading complex, cross‑functional projects.
Grow as a technology leader who can connect engineering, data, and commercial outcomes.
This aligns closely with our long-term view of value creation: investing in people, processes, and technology together.
Looking Ahead
This partnership with Queen’s University Belfast and Innovate UK is an important next step in strengthening Sapphire’s data, reporting, and risk management capabilities. With Ming Ze leading digital platform development as KTP Associate, we are excited about what the next 24 months will bring for our investors, portfolio companies, and internal team.
We look forward to sharing more as the platform progresses; from early prototypes and pilot use cases through to full deployment and commercialisation.
Welcome aboard, MingZe! Here's to an exciting journey ahead.