Early career
In 1999, Irakli Beraia joined the Georgian Red Cross Society as the Community Development Program Coordinator (responsible for 10 collective centres) for Western Georgia, funded by USAID and Norwegian Government. Being one of the most successful development programs in Georgia at that time, with significant impact on lives of internally displaced persons (IDPs).
In 2001, Irakli Beraia held the position of Regional Field Officer at the Georgian Delegation of International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. From 2002 through 2004 he worked at Xylotrans LLC as Director of Department.
Prior to moving to London for his studies in 2005, Beraia briefly worked as an Invited Specialist at the Parliament of Georgia.
After returning from the UK, in April 2007, he was appointed through a merit-based selection as the Director of Georgian National Investment Agency, at the Ministry of Economic Development. After having served a little more than a month, he resigned. The reason for resignation was disagreement with the leadership of the Ministry on a multi-million dollar contract with a foreign company. Before resignation, Irakli Beraia wrote a detailed report to then-Economy Minister explaining reasons for his refusal to sign the contract.
Soon after resignation from the Ministry, Irakli Beraia moved to private sector, where he remained till 2012.
Government and politics
After businessman Bidzina Ivanishvili entered the politics, Irakli Beraia joined Georgian Dream party as a founding member. During 2012 parliamentary elections campaign, he worked at the Georgian Dream Head Office as the Regional Coordinator for 8 municipalities in Samegrelo Region, Western Georgia.
After the Party gained victory in the 2012 elections, Beraia became Head of the Reforms and Development Department at the Ministry of Interior, where he worked till August 2015. His name is associated with ambitious reforms and undertakings including but not limited to: Reforming and restructuring the Ministry; Elaboration of the policy documents such as the Ministry Strategy, Police Code of Ethics, National Strategy and Action Plan for Countering Organised Crime, National Strategy and Action Plan for Countering CBRN Threats; Reform to separate national security branch from the Ministry of Interior and establishment of the State Security Service (SSG), where he was appointed in 2015.
At the SSG, Irakli Beraia served as the Director of Information-Analytical Department (responsible for intelligence analysis) in 2015 - 2016, before moving to politics. In that period he also chaired the Group of Georgian participants at the IPRM (incident prevention and response mechanism - technical/humanitarian format, established after 2008 War, to discuss humanitarian and security issues along the occupation line and in occupied territories) meetings.
In parallel with holding positions at the Interior Ministry and State Security Service, Irakli Beraia served as the Secretary of the National CBRN Council.
In the 2016 parliamentary elections, he was nominated by Georgian Dream to run for the 63rd Parliamentary District, which included the Senaki Municipality (his hometown). His campaign was inaugurated by Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili, who called him "young but experienced". In the 9-th Parliament (2016-2020) he served as the First Deputy Chair of Defence and Security Committee, later as Chair Foreign Relations Committee and in parallel as Chair of the Parliamentary Commission for De-occupation and Restoration of Territorial Integrity. After his re-election, in 2020 - 2024 he served as the Chair of Defence and Security Committee and as the Ex-officio Chair of the Group of Trust (Select Parliamentary Group overseeing top secret activities of intelligence/security institutions). In the same period Irakli Beraia was the head of the Georgian Parliamentary Delegation to the NATO PA.
During his membership in the Parliament, he was strong advocate for strengthening Georgia’s defence capabilities, the increased intelligence/security funding, the country’s membership in NATO and EU, for deepening defence and security partnership with the United States, other NATO Allies. His name is associated with establishing and strengthening Committee ties with partner states’ parliamentary committees, government institutions, diplomatic missions and international organisations, as well as with robust oversight over defence/security sector. Under his leadership, the Defence and Security Committee and the Group of Trust held regular hearings of respective executive agencies and carried out oversight visits. He, several times, invited high ranking officials of the NATO and US DOD to brief the Committee members in camera on various issues.
On April 5, 2024, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, appointed Irakli Beraia as the Chief of the Georgian Intelligence Service, where he served till April 4, 2025. 4 months before the merger of the Georgian Intelligence and State Security services, he was appointed as the first Deputy Head of the Georgian State Security Service where he served till September 3, 2025. On September 18, 2025 Beraia was appointed as the Head of the Georgian Mission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).
