Expleo’s research explored European business mindsets on the adoption of AI.
Technology and consulting company Expleo has released the results of its AI sentiment tracker, AI Pulse, for Ireland. The organisation collected data from 200 respondents across Ireland, Germany, France and the UK to identify the levels of worry, excitement, trust and confidence in AI-led technology.
The research found that business leaders in Ireland, ahead of their contributing European counterparts, are far more likely to value empathy as a fundamental skill for managers in the age of AI, amid ongoing concerns around the impact the technology will have on the global jobs market.
Data taken for the month of April found that Ireland’s business leaders believe human-centric, empathetic coaching and people leadership are among the most critical skills a manager can wield in the context of increased AI adoption. This was true for 28pc of participants based in Ireland, compared to 21pc in the UK, 18pc in Germany and 15pc in France.
“The high proportion of business leaders valuing human-centred leadership actually shows a great level of AI maturity. Business leaders here understand that it is people who transform organisations, not AI,” said Phil Codd, managing director for Ireland at Expleo.
AI transformation
Across all countries surveyed, the most valued skill on average was found to be the ability to integrate AI into workflows and drive change (25pc) – however, Ireland specifically, by comparison, was less convinced, with less than 20pc sharing this opinion.
There is also significant concern among Ireland’s business leaders, 45pc of whom are worried about how AI is transforming their organisation, up from 43pc since March. This fear is not as strongly felt outside of Ireland, standing at 41pc in the UK and only 34pc in France and Germany.
Codd said, “The organisations that will get the most from AI are not the ones racing to implement it fastest, but the ones investing in the human side. Ireland’s focus on empathy as a core management skill isn’t a reluctance to embrace AI, it’s an advanced understanding of what successful adoption actually requires.”
Late last week, International Data Corporation, in partnership with Dell Technologies, published a new global study exploring how European governments and public sector organisations are approaching sovereign and agentic AI, and what it will take to deploy the technology at scale.
The report found that leaders in Europe’s public sector are showing strong drive in accelerating modernisation through agentic AI; however, efforts are being hampered by a gap in the skills needed to effectively operate advanced technologies. Almost 70pc of European public sector IT leaders who participated in the research stated that the current workforce is unable to keep pace with evolving technologies.
This was not dissimilar to a report published by Irish technology consulting company Accenture, which found that, for many employees, there is a growing disconnect between expectation around results from AI and the level of preparedness among employees.
Commenting on the findings of the Accenture report, Hilary O’Meara, the country managing director for Accenture in Ireland, said: “Ireland has all the ingredients to lead in the age of AI – a skilled workforce, a public and private sector proven to deliver, deep connections with the global technology industry, and genuine national ambition. Now the question is whether Irish business will play its part.”
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