From last year’s survey, companies are struggling to find the workers they need to run their businesses.
EY Ireland has published the results of its fifth annual Tech Leaders Outlook Survey, which examines how Ireland’s tech leaders are navigating the challenges and opportunities in the sector. The findings are an AI skills gap and a shortage accordingly skilled workersa significant obstacle to success.
During the months of March and April, EY Ireland collected data from 150 senior technology leaders across Ireland, particularly people with strategic decision-making, accountability, technical or data responsibilities, and those in new or transformational leadership roles. Sectors included Government, infrastructure, consumer, health, industrial, energy, telecommunications and technology.
A survey has found that Ireland’s skills shortage has grown significantly since last year, as the number of tech leaders said to be in short supply skilled workers as the most important obstacle to carrying out their agenda, from 24pc last year to 36pc in 2026.
In 2025, 6pc of the leaders who participated in the study say that internal forces are a problem when aiming to bring about change, compared to today when that same concern is held by 16 participants. This comes in the context of nearly 20 percent of respondents prioritizing succession planning and leadership development.
The impact of AI
The EY Ireland report also highlighted a lack of certainty among donors about the impact of artificial intelligence on the workplace. 6% of participants said they believed the adoption of AI would reduce employment, while only 3% said it would increase it. Another 84pc are of the opinion that there will be no impact on rental levels at all.
This is despite 82% of respondents saying they are currently investing in AI, a figure that has risen from 44pc from last year. About 40pc have an AI strategy and another 45pc are exploring AI opportunities and many organizations are investing heavily in AI tools, solutions and decision making. While one in five said they did not yet see significant value from the use of AI, one in five also said that not being able to use AI quickly is a key concern, up from 12pc in 2025.
Commenting on the report, Ronan Walsh, head of technology consultancy at EY Ireland, said: “Despite recent talk about the removal of jobs from technology, our research finds that the single most important obstacle to Ireland’s technology leaders currently driving their agenda is a lack of skilled workers to implement new technologies or complex transformation programmes.
“This points to the dynamic reality that while AI adoption is increasing rapidly, most organizations are scrambling to find the talent needed to make AI work through practice. AI experts are in short supply and training cannot keep pace. In many cases, technology leaders are called upon to perform miracles, to balance rising expectations with limited capacity and being more creative than ever in how they allocate resources while maintaining a clear focus on value and return on investment.”
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