Irish CEOs double down on AI and transformation in 2026
Irish leaders are entering 2026 with urgency. Rising costs, geopolitical friction, and heavier regulation are pushing strategy from "nice to have" to "must ship." According to the latest EY CEO Outlook, half of Irish CEOs are already running enterprise-wide transformation programmes, and the other half plan to launch them this year.
The focus is practical and near-term: reduce costs, improve customer engagement, accelerate sustainability progress, and lift productivity through digitisation and AI. For executives, that means funding change now, not waiting for clearer skies.
What's on the 2026 priority list
- Cost reduction (50%) - the top priority.
- Customer engagement (46%) - better experience, smarter data use.
- Sustainability (44%) - progress with measurable impact.
- Operational optimisation and productivity (20%) - including digitisation.
Transformation is moving from optional to essential. Nearly 65% of Irish CEOs expect operating costs to rise this year, driven by wage inflation, energy volatility, and regulatory demands. Geopolitics is a real factor in capital allocation: 46% have stopped or delayed an investment, 28% accelerated one, 5% exited a country, and 40% shifted suppliers to different markets.
"Irish CEOs are dealing with rising costs, geopolitical uncertainty and increasing regulatory demands, yet they are responding with real urgency," said Helena O'Dwyer, partner and head of strategy at EY Parthenon Ireland. "Leaders are pushing ahead with major transformation programmes, from adopting AI to strengthening cyber security and redesigning how their organisations work."
AI moves from pilots to the core
AI has moved past experimentation. 30% of Irish CEOs say AI results are significantly above expectations, with another 55% seeing somewhat above expectations. Early wins are showing up in customer operations, software development, risk and compliance automation, and forecasting.
Looking ahead, 98% expect AI to have a transformative or significant impact on their business model within two years. The most influential areas: generative AI (48%) and machine learning (45%). The biggest concern when prioritising AI investment is clear: cybersecurity (30%).
Talent, skills, and the operating model
Despite cost pressure, 60% of CEOs plan to maintain or increase hiring in 2026-especially roles across AI, data, cyber, and technology integration. Companies are also accelerating reskilling and redeployment to keep programmes on track. Priority skills: data and AI, cyber resilience, cloud engineering, transformation, and regulation.
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Deals to build capability and reach
Irish CEOs are ready to transact. 98% plan at least one deal in 2026-50% M&A, 68% joint ventures or strategic alliances, and 15% divestments. The top motivations: accelerate growth, acquire new capabilities (especially AI and cybersecurity), and strengthen customer reach.
Capital will largely stay local. CEOs rank Ireland as their top market to deploy capital, ahead of the UK and the Netherlands.
Outlook: confidence with discipline
The mood is confident. 78% expect better overall performance in 2026 than in 2025. 61% anticipate higher profitability, and 48% expect productivity to rise. The common thread: practical execution over grand theory.
"Irish CEOs see the scale of change ahead and are acting now," said Carol Murphy, partner and head of markets at EY Ireland. "The focus is on practical steps, adopting the right technologies, strengthening skills and forming partnerships that help deliver real results."
What executives should do next
- Set three outcome targets for H1 2026: cost to serve, cycle time, and customer conversion. Fund the programme from savings, not promises.
- Treat AI as a portfolio: automate routine work, scale copilots where ROI is proven, and run a small number of model-driven bets for differentiation.
- Build security into delivery: zero-trust by default, AI risk controls, and continuous red-teaming for genAI use cases.
- Re-skill at speed: codify role-based pathways in data, AI, and cyber; measure skills adoption alongside business impact.
- Use deals to compress time: acquire critical capabilities (AI, cyber, data), partner for market access, and prune assets that distract from the plan.
The pace is fast, but the plan is straightforward: sharpen costs, invest in AI where returns are visible, shore up security, and build the skills and partnerships to execute. Irish businesses are moving with intent-and the ones that keep shipping will set the tone for 2026.
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