The launch of the DeepSeek AI Assistant in January fuelled a near frenzy of activity in the media and the stock markets. Share prices plunged and accusations flew. By the time the dust settled, the reality of AI adoption hadn’t changed in any way. Most organisations are still at the experimental or very early stages of AI adoption and are still exploring how the technology might benefit their business.
But that is likely to change quickly, according to one of this year’s Best Workplaces. “What we’re seeing is that lots of organisations are beginning to dip their toes in the water,” says Skillnet Ireland director of business networks Dave Flynn. “They are formulating policies for the use of AI and exploring how it can contribute value to the business. AI is well established in the tech sector but in other sectors we see projects being carried out on a more ad hoc basis. There is an opportunity for business owners to establish a culture where staff are open to change, including the introduction of new technologies like AI.”
Describing some of the benefits offered by AI, Jamie Griffin, vice-president of global commercial operations with Cloudera, points to its ability to operate round the clock. The company has been named top on the list of best medium workplaces this year. “If you have large scale processing jobs that require maximum uptime, this can supplement the human workforce,” he says. “The workforce will need to rest in between sessions. We get distracted. It is perfectly normal. We get delayed on the way to work, we stop work in the office to talk with our colleagues, we take breaks. AI will continue its work, free from these distractions. In some respects, AI enables us to have these distractions, such that we can communicate more freely, innovate on projects, and build a better culture with our colleagues and friends.”
It can also dramatically reduce the time to analyse data. “Most organisations today, irrespective of industry, are generating vast quantities of data,” Griffin continues. “The smart organisations are using that data to derive some form of advantage. If AI can help your workforce to make better decisions from data faster, your organisation may reduce costs of production, may increase speed to innovation, may reduce risk, may increase profitability and ultimately may produce a better product for your consumers.”
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Agentic AI
He also points to a new form of the technology, known as agentic AI, which uses sophisticated reasoning to autonomously solve complex, multi-step problems. It can, for example, book a trip for someone including flights, airport transfers, hotels, entertainment, restaurant bookings and so on, all based on the individual’s known personal preferences and work schedules.
“We’ve likely all interacted with customer service chatbots at some point,” Griffin adds. “Think of agentic AI as the next generation of that technology, where you could have your own virtual assistant or companion. No longer would the chatbot be simply responding to binary queries. By way of example, the AI agent would use natural language processing to listen to your conversations, summarise meetings, make improvement suggestions based on logical reasoning and take actions to plan your next follow ups for you.”
Realising those benefits is another question, however. “Agentic AI is going beyond simple automation,” says Paul Turley, senior director with ServiceNow Ireland, which has been named one of Ireland’s best super large workplaces this year. “It’s going to autonomous decision making and it can’t do that without connections across the enterprise.”
That’s where ServiceNow’s technology comes in. “The average large organisation uses over 400 different applications to run their business,” Turley explains. “Employees, customers and others spending time working through all those different systems kills productivity. ServiceNow was founded 20 years ago with the vision of creating a technology platform to connect all those different systems to enable large companies to get work done more effectively.”
The company has been working on AI for a number of years. “We have made a number of acquisitions over the past seven years and made a huge investment in the technology,” he says. “Our mantra is to make the world of work work better. We want to put AI to work to do that. We want to put AI to work where people do the work.
“If you fast forward to the AI world and agentic AI world, all those different system providers are bringing their own AI agents to market. We want to enable all of those agents to work more effectively by connecting every corner of the business to the agents. AI agents can do lots of cool things, but unless you connect the front, middle and back of the organisation they can’t do them.”
That means breaking down data siloes and connecting them. “They create hornets’ nests of complexity. If AI is not done in the right way, there is a risk of breaking up the hornets’ nest and making the situation even worse.”
Technology is just part of the issue. “Company owners and managers need skills and knowledge if they are to successfully introduce AI to the organisation,” says Flynn. “Not a deep level of expertise, just enough to understand what it can do for the company.”
Upskilling
The people using it need more than that superficial knowledge. “They need deep level skills in areas like machine learning, data analytics, and the responsible and ethical use of AI,” Flynn adds. “They also need to have deep domain expertise in their own areas like marketing, product development, finance and so on. Lots of our Skillnet Business networks offer courses to introduce employees and business owners to AI and give them the basics they need to understand. And the Technology Ireland ICT Skillnet developed Ireland’s first Masters in AI with the University of Limerick in 2018 and went on to do it with other universities. The courses have produced hundreds of graduates over the years who have gone on to help companies use the technology.”
Service Now is also helping to develop AI skills in the workforce. Rise Up with Service Now is a global talent movement focusing on workforce advancement for underserved or underrepresented communities. Supported by the Service Now University, the programme offers access to over 600 free courses with the aim of creating meaningful learning and career pathways for untapped talent through better access to technology, knowledge and opportunity.
“Through the Rise Up programme we were able to train a number of people from the immigrant community in Ireland in AI to enable them to work for companies experiencing a skills shortage in that area,” says Turley.
“It’s getting to the point where every business will be an AI business,” he adds. “They can see the benefits of increased productivity and effectiveness, but they need a platform to connect every corner of the business with data siloes and AI agents.”
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