Despite the gap, the survey found that almost 70pc of Irish managers have formal strategies to transform existing technology.
New research from the Forvis Mazars C-suite Barometer: Outlook 2026 report found that while Irish organizations are prioritizing the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in long-term growth plans, in terms of investment, companies are lagging behind their global counterparts.
Research by professional services firm Forvis Mazars examines the views, challenges and key strategies of today’s C-suite leaders around the world. For the purpose of the study, data was collected from 3012 C-suite leaders, including Irish, between October and November of 2025.
The findings were that Irish businesses “invest significantly less in AI than their global counterparts, as they see it as critical to gaining competitive advantage, indicating a potential competitive risk”.
Of Ireland’s top contributors, 68pc have technology transformation plans in place, with AI the most important; however, only 10pc say they allocate more than 20pc of their technology budget to AI. This is short compared to the 15pc worldwide who fall most severely. The study suggests that this raises “important questions about whether Irish businesses can maintain a competitive advantage without increasing investment”.
Commenting on the report’s findings, Liam McKenna, partner at Forvis Mazars Ireland, said: “Irish business leaders are convinced of the importance of AI and are moving quickly to implement it.
“Although they express the highest confidence in AI ROI among all technology investments, their budget allocation is not up to that. With Irish businesses investing at lower rates than their global peers, they risk missing out on the opportunity AI brings and being competitive. Now is the time for boards to align their investment with their strategy.”
Generating jobs
Forvis Mazars data also highlighted the potential of AI to create future job opportunities for professionals in Ireland, with 44pc of respondents reporting the creation of new roles around AI. However, almost a quarter of leaders reported job cuts. “This suggests that workers in transition have developing skills rather than disappearing, although it raises questions about innovation, skills development and readiness for the education pipeline,” the study said.
Although three-quarters of the Irish-based leaders who participated expressed their concerns about the ethical and social issues surrounding AI, it was found that they are still open to the adoption of advanced technology. The report suggests that Irish businesses are facing a responsible deployment of AI, as they try to harness competitive advantage while managing social and governance risks.
McKenna said: “The organizations that will win over the next three to five years will be those that move aggressively towards AI investments while managing risk and ethical and social concerns alike.
“Irish businesses must close the investment gap while building the infrastructure, skills and governance structures to support the adoption of AI in the right way. This means strong collaboration between business, education and government to unlock the full potential of AI as a competitive advantage.”
Last week (19 February) Irish global professional services firm Morgan McKinley published the findings of 2026 Morgan McKinley Irish Salary Guide. As part of its research, the organization highlighted that, while the Irish labor market is working, it is becoming more and more disciplined in the way it hires – t.It means that hiring and advanced salaries are usually reserved for those with skills that are considered essential to delivering or managing risk.
In the technology ecosystem, for example, the most in-demand roles have been found as positions in data engineering, cyber security analysis and risk expertise, machine learning engineering and data science, AI testing and AI ethics, automation and dev-ops. The report also said that new roles for AI auditors and ethicists have emerged as a response to regulatory frameworks.
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