Irish business leaders wary of AI-driven cyber risks

Expleo's latest AI Pulse survey found that 56% of Irish business leaders are concerned about AI-driven cybersecurity risks.

The findings suggest security concerns are weighing on sentiment towards AI, even as most respondents remain optimistic about its use in business. The share of Irish business leaders who view AI as a business risk rather than a benefit rose to 25%, from 20% a month earlier.

Among the factors affecting confidence, 29% said their inability to address cybersecurity and data protection risks had harmed their view of AI over the past year. A further 27% said difficulties in governing, monitoring and managing AI risks had made them more negative, the highest proportion among the European countries covered by the research.

The pace of change is also adding pressure. Some 32% of Irish respondents said the speed at which AI is evolving had negatively affected sentiment, matching the level recorded in the UK.

Security concerns

The research points to a wider problem for companies trying to move from interest in AI to practical use. One in five respondents said their inability to scale successful AI pilots into broader adoption had damaged confidence, while 18% said the same about failing to demonstrate measurable business value.

Even so, positive sentiment remains stronger than negative sentiment. The survey found that 71% of Irish business leaders are excited about the opportunities AI brings to their business, while the same proportion said they trust their organisations to use the technology ethically.

Views on employment effects also improved in the latest reading. The proportion of respondents who said they were not worried about AI's impact on their jobs rose to 60%, from 47% in the previous month.

Business leaders were also more comfortable with human oversight of AI-supported decisions. Some 46% said such oversight had made them more positive about AI than they were a year ago.

The poll was carried out by Opinium for Expleo among 800 business leaders across Ireland, the UK, Germany and France, including 200 respondents in Ireland. It is part of a monthly tracker measuring levels of worry, excitement, trust and confidence around AI in business.

Mixed picture

The Irish findings reflect a mixed picture: interest in AI remains high, but concerns about governance, security and returns are becoming harder for companies to ignore. The rise in the share of leaders who now see AI as a risk suggests those concerns are moving beyond technical teams and into broader business decision-making.

That shift comes as companies face pressure to protect systems and data while also showing that AI investments can deliver operational or commercial results. For many leaders, the challenge is no longer whether to engage with AI, but how to control the risks around it.

Phil Codd, Managing Director of Expleo Ireland, linked the rise in concern to recent cyber incidents and the ways attackers are using the technology.

"The risk of AI-driven cyberattacks has understandably put businesses on edge this month, particularly in the wake of recent data breaches. While impersonation of employees remains a significant risk, AI is also giving attackers many more routes in, enabling them to craft convincing phishing messages at scale and probe systems for weaknesses faster than ever before. As such, businesses will be under increasing pressure to prepare and stay ahead of these threats. However, this caution hasn't dampened the wider appetite for AI. With the majority of leaders still excited about the opportunities it brings, the priority now is to strengthen their cybersecurity strategies, implementing continuous testing to detect and safeguard against AI-driven attacks," said Codd.