Ireland’s AI moment: making the leap from adopting AI to building it

Ireland has been at the forefront of technology growth in Europe for decades. Many of the world’s largest and leading technology companies have established significant European operations here, creating jobs, investment and expertise and helping Ireland to build a strong, successful technology sector.

AI is the next test of that success. Ireland is already one of Europe’s leading adopters of AI, but the question now is how we use that position to build AI businesses, to develop intellectual property and to create lasting economic value in Ireland.

This question feels particularly timely after the recent International AI Summit hosted in Dublin as part of Ireland’s presidency of the Council of the European Union, which very much brought the topic into focus.

Ireland has spent decades building an enviable position at the intersection of US technology investment and the European single market. Ambition is everything and Ireland should now aim not only to host, regulate and use AI, but also to become a place where valuable AI products are developed and commercialised.

There is a strong foundation from which to do so. Microsoft’s latest Global AI Diffusion report puts Ireland’s AI user share at 49.9 per cent, the highest in the EU and significantly above the global average of 18.8 per cent. It gives Ireland a strong starting point.

Much of the global debate about AI has focused on the foundations of the technology: energy, chips, data centres and large AI models. Those layers do matter and Ireland already has significant assets in technology infrastructure.

For Ireland, however, the greatest opportunity may lie higher up the value chain in the application layer, the applications that turn AI capability into useful products and services for particular industries.

Where Ireland Can Compete

Ireland already has considerable expertise in sectors where AI could change how complex businesses operate, including technology, financial services, life sciences and healthcare. Businesses here do not need to build the next frontier model to create valuable AI intellectual property. They can combine their knowledge of those industries with increasingly capable AI tools to develop products that their clients will actually use and which can solve real commercial problems.

The investment environment is also encouraging.

Pitchbook data records €947.3 million across 182 Irish AI deals since January 2025, including €256 million across 75 deals so far in 2026. It places Ireland second in Europe for AI venture-capital deal count per capita.

[ More than $250m invested in Irish artificial intelligence firms over first half of 2026Opens in new window ]

The challenge is to ensure that this activity translates into businesses, intellectual property, specialist employment and economic value that remain in Ireland. None of this will be straightforward.

Energy and infrastructure pressures cannot be ignored, competition for skilled people is intense and other European countries are pursuing the same investment.

Regulatory complexity can also affect where new products are tested and commercialised. That makes it all the more important that Ireland focuses on areas where its existing strengths give it an advantage, rather than trying to replicate the scale of AI infrastructure being developed elsewhere.

Getting Regulation Right

Regulation is part of that picture. Ireland should not have to choose between having effective regulation or having a competitive AI sector. The backing of the Dublin Declaration on trustworthy, safe and sovereign artificial intelligence by EU member states reflects an important principle: trusted AI and competitiveness should reinforce rather than undermine one another.

The Startup Ireland AI Accelerator Programme and the additional €45 million announced for technology centres by 2030 are welcome signals too. But the test will be whether those commitments on policy, investment and regulation work in practice.

[ Ireland can capture the AI dividend while mitigating the risksOpens in new window ]

Businesses developing new AI products need to understand how the rules apply and have the opportunity to engage with regulators at an early stage. Regulators have an important role to play in providing that clarity and helping businesses navigate the regulatory framework as new products are developed. Making that work in practice will require sufficient resources and technical expertise within Ireland’s regulators, as well as effective co-ordination between the AI Office of Ireland, the Data Protection Commission and other relevant authorities.

The proposed AI Regulatory Sandbox could also play an important role if it gives businesses practical access to regulators as they move from testing their new products to bringing them to market.

This is not an argument for lighter regulation. Trust matters, particularly in sectors such as financial services and life sciences, and the importance of maintaining trust while supporting innovation was a recurring theme at the International AI Summit.

Ireland’s opportunity is to show that effective regulation and innovation can work together. Businesses need to understand the rules and be able to engage constructively with regulators as new products are developed. Regulation should protect people properly, while being sufficiently clear and proportionate to support investment and the development of new technologies in Ireland.

Ireland’s position in the AI economy is not accidental. It reflects many years of investment, international business experience and accumulated technology expertise. But we should not assume that those advantages will automatically carry over into AI.

Having secured a place in the global AI ecosystem, the question now is whether Ireland remains principally a location where AI is hosted, regulated and consumed, or whether it becomes one where the next generation of AI businesses and applications is built.

The countries that succeed in capturing those added-value investments will shape the next decade of economic growth. Ireland has every opportunity to be among them.

Marie McGinley is a partner and head of the technology and innovation group at Matheson LLP