Niall Roche

Niall Roche is a Senior Teaching Fellow and CTO-in-Residence at the UCL School of Management. He is a founding partner of The Building Blocks, a venture builder focused on the development of Web3 technologies. He also works as an AI and blockchain researcher and engineer at the UCL Centre for Blockchain Technologies.

Niall was previously Lead Technologist for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at UCL Engineering. At Mishcon de Reya, he developed legal technology tools and led projects such as a blockchain-based property transaction with the UK Land Registry and an NFT-based electronic bill of lading proof of concept.

He has been a faculty member at the Legal Technology & Innovation Institute and part of the Technical Steering Committee at the Accord Project, where he worked on smart legal contracts for real estate, trade finance, and event-based legal automation. He was also involved with the Hedera Hashgraph Tech Committee.

Niall began his career as a software engineer in the telecom sector and has over 20 years of experience in web, mobile, and IoT applications. He has worked as CTO at SmartBuilder Software and as a lecturer at Technological University Dublin, where he supervised MSc dissertations and supported SME technology development through government-funded projects.

He has co-founded Fractal and served as a mentor and advisor to various startups, incubators, and programmes including ConceptionX and StartupBootcamp IoT. He contributed to the TRIANGLE Horizon 2020 project, which built a 5G testbed for mobile applications.

Niall holds both Bachelor's and Master’s degrees from Technological University Dublin and has published research in blockchain and data science. He also volunteers with Citrus Saturday, helping young students learn entrepreneurship.

Niall Roche was born in Ireland and began his education at De La Salle in Wicklow, where he completed his secondary schooling in 1997. During this time, he participated in a public speaking course and began to develop an interest in computing and problem-solving.

From 1997 to 2001, he pursued a Bachelor’s Degree in Information Technology at Technological University Dublin. He achieved First Class Honours and was awarded for the best student project of the year—a mobile multiplayer poker game using WAP technologies. He also participated in and led several student societies.

From 2001 to 2003, he completed a Master’s Degree by Research at the same university. His research focused on delivering mobile applications across different devices by detecting device capabilities. This research was later commercialised and sold to mobile operators.

Niall began his career in 2001 as a Research and Development Engineer at ITT Dublin. In 2003, he joined MobileAware as a Senior Software Engineer, where he worked on content delivery systems for mobile operators. He remained there until 2007.

In 2007, he became a Lecturer in Computing at Technological University Dublin, focusing on wireless and server-side development. He supervised final year and Master’s projects and helped SMEs build MVPs using Ireland’s Innovation Voucher programme.

From 2008 to 2013, Niall ran Cirrus Solutions, offering consultancy and development for mobile applications. In 2009, he also became CTO of SmartBuilder Software, where he oversaw the development of mobile tools for construction sites.

Between 2013 and 2016, he worked with the W3C as a Technical Trainer, delivering web application development courses. In 2013, he joined UCL as Technical Lead for the Centre for Entrepreneurship and worked on App Lab and Digital Test Bed projects, helping startups test software. He managed innovation projects such as TRIANGLE under Horizon 2020, which built a 5G mobile testbed.

From 2017 to 2019, he was Lead Technologist for Innovation at UCL Engineering, supporting entrepreneurship and mentoring startups. In 2018, he was appointed CTO-in-Residence and Senior Teaching Fellow at UCL School of Management, teaching software engineering, data science, and blockchain.

In 2019, Niall joined Mishcon de Reya LLP as Head of Distributed Systems Engineering. There, he led the creation of legal technology solutions, including a blockchain proof of concept with UK Land Registry and an NFT-based electronic bill of lading. He also contributed to projects during COVID-19 on adaptive legal contracts.

He became a member of the UCL Centre for Blockchain Technologies in 2019 and served on the Technical Steering Committee of the Accord Project, working on open-source smart legal contracts. In 2020, he joined the faculty of the Legal Technology & Innovation Institute and continued his work in blockchain and smart contracts.

In 2022, he co-founded The Building Blocks, a venture builder focusing on Web3 startups. In 2023, he co-founded Fractal and served as Head of Data. That same year, he was part of the Grant Committee and Education Chair at the DLT Science Foundation.

Throughout his career, Niall has published academic papers and contributed to books on blockchain, legal tech, and data science. He has mentored startups through accelerators such as ConceptionX and StartupBootcamp IoT and regularly teaches and coaches students and early-stage companies.

Niall continues to work at UCL as CTO-in-Residence and Senior Teaching Fellow, and at UCL’s Centre for Blockchain Technologies as a faculty member. He is an active advisor and contributor in the areas of blockchain, smart contracts, legal tech, and entrepreneurship. He also volunteers with Citrus Saturday, a programme that helps school children learn entrepreneurship by running small businesses.

Niall Roche aims to support the responsible development and adoption of emerging technologies like blockchain, AI, and data science. His focus is on building tools, systems, and educational programmes that help individuals, startups, and institutions use technology to solve real-world problems. Through his work in universities, venture building, and legal tech, he promotes practical innovation that supports transparency, efficiency, and better decision-making. He continues to mentor students, researchers, and founders to apply their skills in useful and ethical ways. Niall’s long-term vision is to help shape future-ready technology solutions that are open, secure, and accessible to everyone.

Niall Roche was awarded the Best Final Year Project and Student with Highest Results during his undergraduate studies at Technological University Dublin. His Master's research led to a commercial technology used by mobile operators. He has been invited to join key committees, including the Technical Steering Committee of the Accord Project and the Hedera Hashgraph TechCom. As part of his academic work, he has contributed to research papers and books on blockchain and legal tech. He is regularly invited to mentor at programmes like ConceptionX and is recognised for helping bridge academic research with real-world innovation and entrepreneurship.