Company opens market engagement on AI and data factory services
Early information notice seeks expert support to build and run a centralised AI and data factory, signalling growing demand for organised AI capability across sectors.
Early information notice seeks expert support to build and run a centralised AI and data factory, signalling growing demand for organised AI capability across sectors.
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In a new AI & Data Factory Expert Services prior information notice, VR-Group Plc is seeking expert support to establish and operate a centralised “AI and Data Factory”. The planned factory is intended to strengthen the organisation’s data, artificial intelligence, machine learning and analytics capabilities, and to do so in close collaboration with suppliers. Published on 28th August 2026, the notice positions AI as a core, shared capability rather than a collection of isolated projects.
The notice is concise but clear on its main ambition: to build and run a central hub for data, AI, machine learning and analytics. Rather than procuring a single product, VR-Group Plc is looking for expert services to help design, set up and then operate this centralised factory.
By putting expert services at the centre, the buyer signals that it expects significant input on architecture, methods and ways of working, not just implementation effort. The reference to “establishment and operation” points to a life cycle that runs from initial design through to day‑to‑day running and continuous improvement.
The wording also emphasises two themes:
Taken together, these signals point towards an AI and data function that operates as an internal shared service but is co‑designed with external specialists. The notice does not spell out which business areas the factory will support, leaving room for suppliers to propose how a central capability could serve multiple use cases.
VR-Group’s plan to create an AI and Data Factory sits within a broader move by European buyers towards central platforms for data and AI, rather than a patchwork of standalone tools.
In March 2026, DigiFinland Oy issued a Data Management and AI Services contract notice focusing on platforms, licences and expert services for data‑driven management and artificial intelligence. Its scope ranges from consulting and project management to data modelling and analytics, reflecting a desire to cover the full data and AI pipeline under one arrangement.
Also in March 2026, AB Lietuvos radijo ir televizijos centras launched an AI Factory Infrastructure Consultation, an ongoing market consultation on the design and installation of AI factory infrastructure within an existing data centre. That notice, like VR-Group’s, uses the “factory” concept to describe a dedicated environment for AI work, extending beyond individual applications to the underlying infrastructure.
Energy and infrastructure operators are moving in a similar direction. In April 2026, N-ERGIE Aktiengesellschaft published a Data Platform and AI Development tender, seeking framework agreements for software development services to design, implement and optimise data platforms and AI solutions. Later, in July 2026, Naukowa i Akademicka Sieć Komputerowa - Państwowy Instytut Badawczy advertised a Data Storage Platform Expansion contract to supply, install and configure a virtualisation cluster and AI work platform, including server hardware and network equipment under specific cybersecurity and origin rules.
On the public‑sector side, in April 2026 Bundesamt für Bauten und Logistik BBL launched a Data and AI Services Procurement to secure IT services for data governance and AI development in support of federal strategies. And in May 2026, Statutární město Brno went to market for an AI Platform for Brno City, commissioning a multi‑agent AI platform to integrate public communication and internal automation, deploy chatbots and AI agents, and ensure scalability and high availability.
VR-Group’s proposed AI and Data Factory fits squarely within this pattern: central platforms and factories that treat data and AI as core infrastructure. The emphasis on supplier collaboration in its notice mirrors the way many of these procurements invite the market to help define architectures and operating models upfront, rather than buying only finished products.
Another striking aspect of VR-Group’s notice is its focus on expert services. Rather than framing the procurement around licences or hardware, it points to the need for specialist skills to both build and run the factory.
This is echoed across several recent AI procurements. In March 2026, NS Groep N.V. published a Recruitment of Data & AI Experts contract notice, seeking data and AI professionals to support its data‑driven goals. That tender explicitly aimed at “sustainable collaboration” and long‑term partnerships, expecting suppliers to contribute not only capacity but also to “knowledge development and innovation”.
Healthcare and welfare bodies are making similar moves. In May 2026, HUS-yhtymä issued an Expert Services for Development tender covering AI application development, data production, design, operations and QARA, with detailed requirements for named experts and controls on their roles. In August 2026, Etelä-Pohjanmaan hyvinvointialue issued an AI Expert Partnership for Welfare Area contract notice seeking a long‑term partner to strengthen the use of AI in service development and management, with an explicit goal of more efficient, data‑driven operations.
Transport infrastructure is also drawing on external expertise. In June 2026, Finavia Oyj launched an AI Developer Services Framework to secure junior and senior AI developer services for designing, implementing and maintaining AI solutions. And in June 2026, Istekki Oy began a technical Market Dialogue for Expert Services covering data analytics, information management, artificial intelligence, software automation and testing, explicitly to shape a future procurement.
VR-Group Plc’s prior information notice, with its emphasis on collaboration and market input, sits comfortably within this move towards expert‑heavy, partnership‑oriented models. Suppliers are not just implementers but co‑architects of how AI and data are used across an organisation.
As AI capability is centralised, buyers are also starting to formalise governance, maintenance and skills. Several recent notices show how these strands are being woven into AI procurements.
On the governance side, Kansaneläkelaitos (Kela) opened an AI Governance Tool Market Dialogue in March 2026, inviting suppliers to discuss a governance tool that complies with the EU AI Act. The market dialogue asks participants to present solutions, answer questions and give feedback on requirements, underlining how regulatory compliance is now a core design criterion rather than an afterthought.
For long‑term operations, several buyers are focusing on upkeep as much as on build. In June 2026, Helsingin kaupunki issued an AI Applications Maintenance RFI, seeking information on maintenance services for its AI applications, with a focus on operational upkeep, monitoring and updates. In June 2026, Oikeusrekisterikeskus, directing work for the Ministry of Justice, published an Artificial Intelligence Expert Services notice that explicitly spans both system development and maintenance across various projects.
Skills and adoption are another strand. In June 2026, The Irish Centre for Business Excellence sought providers under a Digital Transformation and AI Services framework to deliver training and skills development programmes in digital fluency, data analytics and AI‑enabled decision‑making for member companies. And in June 2026, Regionalny Szpital Specjalistyczny im. dr Władysława Biegańskiego issued an AI Solutions for Hospital Processes tender for an AI/ML platform to support medical and management processes, coupled with user training, technical support and requirements around environmental and sustainable development principles.
VR-Group Plc’s AI and Data Factory notice does not yet go into similar operational or regulatory detail. However, by centralising AI and data capabilities and foregrounding collaboration with the market, it lays the groundwork for a structure in which governance, maintenance and skills can be handled in a consistent way across the organisation.
As a prior information notice, VR-Group Plc’s AI & Data Factory Expert Services publication is an early step rather than a full tender. The next stages will show how the buyer chooses to structure the factory, whether it opts for a single lead supplier or a panel, and how responsibilities for design, build, operations and governance are divided.
Set alongside other recent notices on AI platforms, expert services and governance tools, the move underlines how organisations across sectors are now treating AI and data as shared infrastructure. The way VR-Group and its future partners turn that idea into a working factory will be a useful test case for similar initiatives elsewhere.
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