As Deloitte Ireland’s global trade strategy and resilience lead, Louise Kelly sits at the centre of one of the most unsettled periods in international business in decades. Yet when she reflects on what shaped her path, she goes back to the beginning, to East Cork, and to the front seat of her father’s car.
Kelly grew up in Castlelyons, the eldest of three girls, in a home where education was encouraged but never taken for granted. She recalls accompanying her father as he visited clients during her summer holidays, sitting beside him and watching how naturally he built long-standing relationships.
“I must have been very young,” she says, “but I can still see how he listened a lot, how he never treated his business with people as just a transaction. Dad never lost sight of the person, and I understood early that the way he treated people mattered. That lesson’s stayed with me: business begins with people.”
Her mother shaped her just as much. “Mam was exceptionally bright. She worked at home, taking care of us, and created an atmosphere where academic ambition was something to reach for. I wasn’t pushed by any means, but I did feel a responsibility to take opportunities.”
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Those instincts now sit at the centre of her leadership of the taskforce created by Deloitte Ireland in response to a year of profound volatility in international trade. “We are now connecting the dots across disciplines that were once treated separately. For our clients, policy, geopolitics, supply chains and investment decisions are colliding, and there are no clear lines of demarcation. I’ve created a team that can provide them with a single integrated response.”
At UCC, Kelly discovered that tax suited both how she thinks and how she works. “I loved the structure, the combination of law and numbers, the logic. But more than anything, I liked that it mattered. In tax laws, the rules are the decisions that shape the world. What fascinated me was that something technical could have such human, strategic consequences. I knew this was the opportunity for me.”
Her early years at Deloitte reinforced that instinct, and she gravitated to work at the intersection of policy, economics and business. That inclination eventually brought her to New York in 2011 where she worked with US multinationals on major investment decisions as Ireland was emerging from the bailout.
“I found myself in rooms where I was effectively flying the flag for Ireland. It was a privilege but also pressure because we were asking companies to take a bet on Ireland when our reputation was fragile.”
One decision involved a biopharmaceutical company weighing Ireland against Switzerland. “It took months, and we advised on everything from talent to regulatory certainty to long-term competitiveness. When the decision went to Ireland and I saw what it grew into, more than a thousand jobs, I understood the impact. If you want to influence outcomes, you need to understand the whole picture.”
That blend of technical depth, geopolitical awareness and strategic judgment led to Kelly’s appointment this year to lead Deloitte’s Global Trade Strategy and Resilience Taskforce. “This moment is unlike anything I’ve seen,” she says. “The pace of policy shifts, the rethinking of supply chains, the reality that a single announcement can transform an industry’s assumptions within hours. Clients need someone who can connect trade, legal, risk, supply chain, finance and tech into one coherent view. I felt ready for that challenge.”
The new playbook
The volatility of the role became clear quickly. “We were in Portugal on the first evening of our holidays when the EU and US announced their framework agreement. My phone lit up immediately and after that it was all go. It captured the reality of the job perfectly because if you’re going to lead in this space, you have to interpret change almost in real time.”
Kelly now speaks about volatility with precision rather than alarm. “There’s still hope in some organisations that this is temporary turbulence, but the trading norms that existed before January 2025 are not coming back. Tariffs have become instruments of industrial policy, ways of shaping supply chains and signals of geopolitical intent. When you understand that, you stop waiting for things to settle and start preparing for ongoing movement. That realisation can be empowering.”
She’s watching three areas particularly closely. “The first is the potential expansion of tariffs or other barriers to services. We’ve already seen digital services taxes feature in trade negotiations. If tariffs extend to services – and we saw references to that during the summer – the implications for businesses and Ireland would be significant. The WTO moratorium on applying tariffs on digital services expires in 2026. If some countries move away from the agreement, services could feature in negotiations in a new way.”
The second is global dependency on China. “You can diversify your first-tier suppliers, but your fourth tier may still rely on China for critical minerals or key components. Unless companies understand these layers, they cannot fully assess resilience. And the dynamic between the US and China will define global trade for years.”
The third is competition within Europe. “Every member state is reassessing its industrial strategy. Everyone wants resilience, talent, infrastructure, investment and strong supply chains. Ireland can’t always compete on size. We compete on agility and credibility, and our indigenous companies are now up against firms supported by much larger ecosystems.”
This aligns with Mario Draghi’s call for Europe to rethink competitiveness. “Europe needs to embrace innovation and productivity. Irish firms understand that intuitively; they know they cannot stay still and that gives them an edge.”
The latest Deloitte CFO survey echoes that sentiment, with optimism and uncertainty existing side by side. “CFOs are operating in an in-between space. There is more optimism because recent agreements bring some direction, but uncertainty is nearly double what it was 12 months ago. What stands out is that three in 10 are accelerating transformation because of tariffs which are pushing organisations to modernise faster than planned.”
Kelly’s days now reflect this shift. “I speak to companies about redesigning products to build in flexibility. Others are rethinking supply chains entirely or asking whether to expand capacity now or wait. The questions vary but the theme is the same. How do we make decisions when the environment refuses to settle?”
Her advice rarely changes. “Businesses should first take stock and carry out an impact assessment. Then build scenarios – not just one or two, but several. Once you see your risks clearly, you can move into decision-making mode. Preparedness gives you confidence.”
She also acknowledges the parallel between her own journey and the choices companies now face. “There have been moments where I’ve had to take a deep breath this year, taking on this remit or finding myself live on RTÉ. But when you map risks and chart a multifaceted transformation path, you can find stability and use it to propel ahead. Waiting until you feel ready isn’t an option. Leadership requires stepping forward even when the picture isn’t complete.”
She believes businesses face the same choice. “The world is moving, so we move with it. If you stand still, you fall behind. The organisations that succeed will be the ones that learn faster than the environment changes. Bravery now is acting with intention even when conditions are imperfect. And if you prepare well, that bravery becomes a strategic advantage.”
To learn more visit Deloitte.ie/globaltrade.
