The report also revealed that of the 20 countries surveyed, Ireland was shown to have the highest expectations for ‘speed of change’.
International technology company Accenture has released a new study that examines the attitudes of business leaders and employees, across multiple countries. The Pulse of Change report collected data from 3,650 leaders and 3,350 employees across 20 industries and countries.
The findings are that, in Ireland, 94pc of leaders who contributed their data, expect to increase investment in AI by 2026. A further 90pc of Irish organizations believe their recruitment plans will grow throughout the year, compared to only 71pc of businesses across Europe. 95 per cent of Irish leaders were found to expect an increase in the pace of change in 2026, the highest of all regions surveyed.
The jury is still out, regarding how employees and business leaders view the GenAI workplace. While 91pc of leaders in Ireland say their experience with technology over the past year has changed the way they view technology for the better, this is said by only 51pc of Irish workers who participated.
The report said, “Confidence remains low among the workforce in general. Just over one in five (23pc) say they can confidently use AI tools and explain them to others, compared to 33pc in the UK and 25pc across Europe.
“Only 27pc feel well prepared to respond to technological disruption in 2026, including emerging technologies and AI, compared to 34pc in Europe. This is in stark contrast to Irish leaders, 57% of whom say they are well prepared to respond.”
Commenting on the report’s findings, Hilary O’Meara, Accenture Ireland country managing director said, “Irish business leaders are showing incredible appetite when it comes to AI investment and innovation.
“Employees are asking for clear and transparent communication about how AI will change their roles and skills. Successful companies in 2026 will not simply measure AI technology, they will measure trust, transparency and competence, which will result in greater employee confidence. That is how Ireland will remain competitive and ensure that AI becomes a driver of shared growth for leaders and employees.”
Future skills
In line with the need for greater investment in the AI workplace, as indicated by the report, Accenture data shows that more than half (56pc) of leaders plan to upskill and retrain employees for “AI-enhanced work” by 2026. However, this was also an area where there was a clear difference of opinion between business leaders and workers.
100pc of Irish leaders who shared their experience said their organization’s staff had the right training to work with AI, yet only 55% of contributing staff agreed. Only 3pc of Irish workers reported a major change in their role due to AI, compared to 7pc in wider Europe.
“Communication appears to be a major factor,” said the report, which also said, “only 17% of Irish workers strongly agree that leadership has clearly outlined how agent AI and agent AI will impact employees, including changes in roles and skills required.”
Agentic AI, for many businesses, is becoming a new frontier for experimentation and innovation, with organizations large and small alike looking to carve out a place for themselves in the field. That was just announced Yann LeCunformer head of AI at Meta, has raised $1.03bn in seed funding for his Advanced Machine Intelligence (AMI) startup.
His platform aims to develop ‘world models’ that learn abstract representations of real-world sensor data and that will allow agent systems to predict the consequences of their actions and plan action sequences that accomplish tasks “subject to safety rules”.
Also announced this week, technology giant Microsoft revealed plans to launch Copilot Cowork, a tool based on Anthropic’s popular Claude Cowork. It is reportedly part of Microsoft’s long-term plan to take advantage of the growing demand for independent agents.
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