Hilary O’Meara, country managing director, Accenture in Ireland. Image: Accenture
The report also indicated that among the 20 countries surveyed, Ireland was shown to be most in anticipation of a ‘heightened pace of change’.
Multinational technology company Accenture has released new research exploring the attitudes of business leaders and employees, across a range of countries. The Pulse of Change report collected data from 3,650 leaders and 3,350 employees across 20 industries and 20 countries.
What was discovered is that, in Ireland, 94pc of leaders who contributed their data expect to increase AI investment in 2026. An additional 90pc of Irish organisations believe that their hiring plans will grow throughout the year, compared to 71pc of businesses across wider Europe. 95pc of Irish leaders were found to be in anticipation of a heightened pace of change in 2026, the highest among all surveyed regions.
The jury is still out, however, in relation to how employees and business leaders view workplace GenAI. While 91pc of leaders in Ireland said that their experience with the tech over the course of the past year has changed the way they view technology for the better, only 51pc of participating Irish employees said the same.
