In a world with increasing conflicts, governments are under pressure to increase their defence spending. In Ireland, the government announced a record €1.4 billion defence budget for 2025. This trend makes the production and exporting of dual-use technologies fundamentally strategic for international markets. Pat O’Connor has experienced this with his company VRAI, which he founded in 2017. Pat believes that dual-use technologies will continue to play a big role in our economies and I recently caught up with him.
Pat talks about his background, the startup journey, simulation technology, dual use technology, and more.
More about Pat O’Connor:
Pat O’Connor is a Co-Founder and CEO of VRAI. He served in the Irish Defence Forces for over 20 years, where he undertook a variety of roles, including Reconnaissance Unit Commander, Deputy Director of Communications and as a spokesperson for Three Irish Chiefs of Defence.
He also completed over three years of operationally deployed service with the United Nations’ Peacekeeping and Peace Enforcement missions in Liberia, Syria, Lebanon and Israel. Pat also has an M.A. in Political and Public Communication as well as an MSc in Business, Leadership and Management and founded VRAI alongside Niall Campion in 2017 to provide greater simulation training technology to military forces.
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