A recent report by Morgan Stanley Research estimates that nearly $3 trillion of AI-related infrastructure investment will flow through the global economy by 2028, with more than 80 per cent of that spending still to come. AI-related investment now looks more like “industrial buildout” than speculative tech spending, the firm noted, with data centres accounting for a huge share of this investment. With Ireland already experiencing capacity constraint issues, how can we ensure that we capture a share of this lucrative market and become a major global hub for AI innovation? Constraints around energy, grid capacity and planning are now a material risk to growth, acknowledges Rory Timlin, partner, management consulting, at KPMG. “There is also a gap between AI ambition and real business impact. Addressing this will require faster progress on infrastructure, stronger data foundations and skills development, and a more regional approach to growth beyond Dublin,” he says. However, Timlin also notes Ireland’s strengths, including strong connectivity, a deep talent pool, a proven ability to attract multinational tech investment and a well-developed ecosystem spanning engineering, construction and digital services. Rory Timlin, partner, management consulting, KPMG “Ireland is well positioned but not guaranteed success. It has strong fundamentals,” he says. “The gap is in delivery. Organisations are still working to translate ambition into measurable value. Maintaining competitiveness will depend on continued investment in skills, data capability and execution – not just strategy.”A lot of focus has been on Ireland’s role in supporting the data centre industry. Irish companies are considered market leaders in designing, building and operating the next-generation data centres that provide the capacity to scale AI but, looking ahead, the opportunity extends beyond data centres, notes Aidan McKenna, Americas regional director for Enterprise Ireland. Aidan McKenna, Americas regional director for Enterprise Ireland “While infrastructure remains important for compute access [the processing capacity required to build and deploy AI systems], the next phase of growth will be driven by applied AI – particularly in areas like cybersecurity, governance and intelligent process automation. Fortunately, we also have a competitive advantage in AI service delivery and transformation, with companies like Version 1, Nearform and Cora Systems helping global organisations adopt AI at scale,” he points out. Overall, AI represents a net opportunity for Ireland creating new, higher-value roles and drive productivity gains, he maintains. “Importantly, AI systems require humans-in-the-loop, which accelerates skills development across the workforce and embeds capability within Irish companies. With global demand for AI engineers outstripping supply, Ireland’s strong education pipeline and enterprise supports, position us to win, scale and retain AI investment, ensuring long-term competitiveness in the global digital economy.” Stephen O’Driscoll, head of research centres at Research Ireland Stephen O’Driscoll, head of research centres at Research Ireland, agrees that Ireland is well positioned to attract global AI investment. “Ireland combines a strong international technology presence with a deep research base, advanced talent pipeline and growing ecosystem for AI adoption and innovation. Major global technology companies such as Google, Microsoft, Amazon, IBM and OpenAI have significant operations here, supported by Ireland’s access to the EU market, stable policy environment, European headquarters base, R&D activity, cloud infrastructure and data capability,” he notes. “This is underpinned by a strong and growing skills base. Research Ireland’s Centres for Research Training have supported more than 700 PhD researchers in areas such as data analytics and machine learning. This talent pipeline is complemented by Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland supports, including CeADAR, the National Centre for Applied AI, which helps companies adopt and apply AI in real-world settings. Ireland’s European Digital Innovation Hubs also provide practical support to SMEs and public-sector organisations to test, adopt and build skills in advanced digital and AI technologies.”The planned €460 million Rinn network will strengthen this further by bringing together seven large-scale research centres. Within it, Rinn Artificial Intelligence will be the largest AI research centre in Ireland and one of the largest in Europe. With an investment of €121.8 million, it will bring together 15 research organisations and 288 researchers across Ireland, train 258 PhD researchers, advance fundamental and applied AI research, develop new tools and methods, support responsible adoption by enterprise and public-sector partners and further strengthen Ireland’s AI talent pipeline. The challenges associated with AI are not unique to Ireland, O’Driscoll adds. “Countries everywhere are responding to its speed, scale and novelty, while building the skills, infrastructure, governance and adoption capacity needed to keep pace. Ireland starts from a strong base, with global technology presence, research excellence, talent development, enterprise supports and a policy environment focused on responsible AI adoption and innovation.” Talent is clearly a key issue in how Ireland will succeed in AI and there is no room for complacency. “We perform well relative to the EU27 in terms of the number of ICT graduates and specialists that we have,” notes Erik O’Donovan, head of digital economy policy EU and international affairs at Ibec. “However, there is still a need to intensify our lifelong-learning rates, enterprise ICT training and AI adoption relative to other EU digital front-runners. In addition, just over a quarter of individuals here do not have basic, or above, digital skills,” he notes. Recent Ibec research indicates a “preparedness gap” between large firms and resource-constrained SMEs, who were found to prioritise immediate operational training over long-term strategic upskilling like digital and AI, he adds. “Our ability to be a net beneficiary as [a] result of AI will come down to how we manage this skills transition,” O’Donovan says. “If the Government does not fully maximise the National Training Fund to support training and upskilling our workforce to meet these rapid technological changes and position our workforce as the most prepared for the changes coming, it must return those funds to businesses to invest in skills development directly.”