Ekco invests €4M in Ekco AI to accelerate secure AI adoption in Ireland

Ekco, one of Europe’s leading security-first managed service providers, has announced a €4 million investment in the launch of Ekco AI, a platform that helps organisations to adopt AI securely while maintaining visibility and control over its use across the business. The platform will encourage safe AI exploration and save businesses €2M for every €10M of operating costs by boosting employee productivity.

Ekco’s research has found that a typical business environment may have as many as 28 AI applications in use, leading to a ‘shadow AI’ blind spot for employers who may not know which tools are in use, or how company data is being handled.Ekco AI is designed to address this by helping organisations to see what applications are being used, set clear guardrails, block potentially hazardous applications and reduce the risk of sensitive information being shared on unsanctioned systems.

By providing peace of mind to employees and their employers, the platform aims to encourage greater use of AI by individuals. This will help to boost the average employee’s productivity by more than five hours each week, resulting in significant operational cost savings.

Ekco AI also supports practical, role-based training on Microsoft Copilot, Claude and other AI tools. Separate awareness training covers data protection, unsafe practices and AI-related risks, giving employees clearer guidance on what they can use and what information they should not share.

The launch comes days after transparency obligations under the EU AI Act came into force on 2nd August 2026, with more scheduled for 2027 and 2028. Ekco AI creates an audit trail of AI activity and provides reporting for boards, auditors and regulators, while its controls also support compliance with the cybersecurity directive NIS2 and the digital resilience act, DORA, for financial services institutions.

Steve MacNicholas, CEO, Ekco Ireland, said: “Businesses won’t truly get value from AI until they and their employees feel comfortable using it and experimenting with it. We have seen that organisations who are generous with AI by equipping their leadership teams and employees with tools that will benefit them, excite them, and which are safe, are the ones who have the fewest issues with harmful AI platforms.

“In reality, today’s CIOs don’t always know what AI platforms their employees are using. Ekco AI gives them that oversight and signals any applications that are potentially harmful.”

Cian Prendergast, CEO, Ekco MSP, said: “Most businesses are no longer asking whether their employees will use AI. They are asking how they can stop that activity becoming a blind spot. A blanket ban is not an effective answer because people may simply continue using the tools they already know. Businesses need to give employees approved options, explain the rules and put controls around the data. That is what Ekco AI is designed to do. Ultimately, our mission is to safely and securely share our expertise with our customers to give them up to 50% strategic advantage over their competitors within a three-year timeframe.”

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