Irish business leaders warm to AI, but fears persist

Expleo said 72% of Irish business leaders are now excited about the opportunities presented by artificial intelligence, up sharply from 60% a month earlier.

The figure comes from the company's latest AI Pulse survey, which tracks sentiment among business leaders in Ireland, the UK, Germany and France. A month earlier, Ireland had been the most pessimistic of the four markets.

The latest findings suggest a marked change in mood. Irish respondents are now the most enthusiastic of the countries surveyed about AI's opportunities for their organisations. At the same time, the data points to unease about the technology's impact on work, governance and trust.

More than half of Irish business leaders, 53%, said they fear AI's impact on their job. The same proportion said they worry about how AI is transforming their organisation, well above the 38% average across the other markets surveyed.

Concern about security also remains high, with 63% of respondents in Ireland saying they are worried about the cybersecurity risks AI poses to their organisations.

Even so, confidence in internal oversight appears to be improving. Seven in 10 said they trust their organisation to use AI ethically, up from 62% the previous month.

The survey also found that 61% of business leaders in Ireland now see AI primarily as a benefit to business, compared with 54% a month earlier. One in five said they regard AI as a risk to business.

Trust issues

The findings come as companies face new transparency obligations under the EU AI Act, including rules requiring some AI-generated content to be disclosed. Expleo's research suggests those requirements may also reflect a broader reputational issue for brands.

Almost 38% of Irish business leaders said they would lose confidence in a company whose marketing or advertising looked or read as though it had been produced by AI. That points to a distinction between how respondents view AI as a tool for internal business use and as a visible part of customer-facing communication.

The monthly tracker is based on responses from 800 business leaders across the four countries, including 200 in Ireland. It measures levels of excitement, worry, trust and confidence around AI in business settings.

In Ireland, the August results show the fastest shift in sentiment among the markets covered. After leading on pessimism in the previous reading, the country moved to the top spot for enthusiasm about AI opportunities in the latest poll.

That reversal may encourage companies investing in AI, but the figures also show that greater acceptance of the technology has not eased concerns about its personal impact. Respondents appear more willing to acknowledge its commercial potential while still expressing anxiety about their own roles and the pace of organisational change.

There is also a clear tension between trust in employers and distrust of some visible uses of AI. While 70% said they believe their organisation can use the technology ethically, a sizeable minority said they would think less of a company if its marketing appeared machine-made.

That split may matter for senior executives deciding where and how to introduce AI tools. Internal process changes may win backing more easily than customer-facing content, particularly if audiences see the latter as reducing authenticity or human judgment.

Phil Codd, Managing Director - Ireland at Expleo, said: "August's data shows why it is so important to measure AI sentiment month-on-month. AI adoption is a rapidly changing space, leaving the attitudes of Irish business leaders evolving just as quickly. What stands out in this latest AI Pulse data is the gap between enthusiasm for AI and comfort with what it means in practice. Leaders believe that AI will be good for their businesses, but many are still asking what that transformation will mean for them personally, for their people and for the security of their organisations. Businesses must bring their leadership teams with them on their AI journeys; they are the ones who will become their greatest AI advocates. If company leadership is having doubts, their teams almost certainly are too."