For 51 per cent of Irish CEOs, keeping pace with technological change, including AI, is now their top concern. While businesses based in Ireland are investing in AI, most have not yet translated pilots into measurable results. Only 17 per cent of Irish CEOs reported AI-driven revenue gains in the past 12 months and 23 per cent reported lower costs \u2014 with the majority reporting neither.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn 2026, AI will be pivotal. Only a small number of Irish companies are turning AI into measurable financial returns by moving to enterprise-scale AI solutions, while many others are still struggling to get beyond pilots,\u201d Brown notes. \u201cThat gap is starting to show up in terms of confidence and competitiveness; it will widen quickly for those that don\u2019t act.\u201d<\/p>\n
Firms reporting both cost and revenue gains are two to three times more likely to have embedded AI extensively across their business, the PwC AI performance study shows.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the areas where Irish CEOs say AI is being applied (to a large or very large extent) are: demand generation (13 per cent); support services (11 per cent); products, services or experiences (9 per cent); direction-setting (4 per cent); and demand fulfilment (2 per cent) \u2014 rates that are all below global levels.<\/p>\n
\u201cAchieving measurable returns means using AI to disrupt and fundamentally change business models, deploying it at scale and identifying where it creates value. While many use AI in back-office functions, the real gains are found in customer and supply chain operations,\u201d Brown notes.<\/p>\n
\u201cAI leaders invest two and a half times more than all others and are far more likely to manage that investment nimbly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Just under two-thirds (65 per cent) of Irish respondents to PwC\u2019s 2026 global CEO survey report no cost savings yet from AI. Brown explains that lowering operating expenses requires digital transformation that goes beyond task-level optimisation to reimagining entire processes and operating models.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy leveraging automation, data and AI, organisations can eliminate or simplify work and restructure operations, such as fundamentally reinventing the order-to-cash cycle,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe greatest efficiencies emerge when digital and AI drive disruption at scale to produce fewer layers, simpler systems and faster cycle times \u2014 as well as freeing up people to focus on higher-value outcomes.\u201d<\/p>\n
When it comes to automating critical workflows, trust is a major bottleneck for adoption in Ireland, particularly in relation to agentic AI. PwC Ireland\u2019s AI Agent Survey 2025 highlighted that while 53 per cent of firms were seeing productivity gains, only 7 per cent expressed high trust in AI agents across multiple functions.<\/p>\n