Expleo research reveals businesses in Ireland double down on humans and empathy amid AI adoption

Expleo, the global technology and consulting service provider, has announced the results of its AI Pulse sentiment tracker for Ireland. The survey shows that business leaders in Ireland are far more likely than those in the UK, Germany and France to value empathy as a fundamental skill for managers in the age of AI. Meanwhile, the sentiment score for April remains unchanged from March, at 65 out of 100 for confidence in AI.

Despite ongoing concerns around the impact AI will have on the global jobs market, April’s AI pulse shows that business leaders in Ireland believe that the most important skill for managers of the future, in the context of increased AI adoption, will be human-centred, empathetic coaching and people leadership. This is significantly higher than the importance business leaders in the UK (21%), France (15%) and Germany (18%) give it.

The most-valued skill, on average, across the markets surveyed is the ability to integrate AI into workflows and drive change (25%), while business leaders in Ireland are less convinced, at 19%.

The drive to keep humans in the picture may explain why 45% of business leaders are worried about how AI is transforming their organisation, up from 43% the previous month. This concern is felt to a lesser extent in other markets: 34% in France and Germany and 41% in the UK.

Commenting on this month’s results, Phil Codd, Managing Director – Ireland, Expleo, said: “The high proportion of business leaders valuing human-centred leadership actually shows a great level of AI maturity. Business leaders here understand that it is people who transform organisations, not AI.

“The organisations that will get the most from AI are not the ones racing to implement it fastest, but the ones investing in the human side. Ireland’s focus on empathy as a core management skill isn’t a reluctance to embrace AI, it’s an advanced understanding of what successful adoption actually requires.”

See more stories here.

Ronan Leonard

Recent Posts

1.2 billion payments made on Irish cards in first half of 2026

There were over 1.2 billion domestic payments made on Irish cards, valued at almost €50…

1 day ago

PC Peripherals rebrands as Eduvolve, 20 new jobs planned

PC Peripherals receives €2.5m investment as Business Rebrands to Eduvolve Education technology group announces major…

1 day ago

New Starter Home Scheme from Longford County Council offers discounts of up to €95,000

Longford County Council’s Starter Home Purchase Scheme offers 25 high-quality A-rated family homes at Cúirt…

1 day ago

Disseqt wins the KPMG Global Tech Innovator Ireland competition 2026

KPMG has announced that Disseqt, headquartered at NovaUCD in Dublin, has been named the winner…

1 day ago

More about Irish Tech News


Irish Tech News are Ireland’s No. 1 Online Tech Publication and often Ireland’s No.1 Tech Podcast too.


You can find hundreds of fantastic previous episodes and subscribe using whatever platform you like via our Anchor.fm page here: https://anchor.fm/irish-tech-news


If you’d like to be featured in an upcoming Podcast email us at Simon@IrishTechNews.ie now to discuss.


Irish Tech News have a range of services available to help promote your business. Why not drop us a line at Info@IrishTechNews.ie now to find out more about how we can help you reach our audience.


You can also find and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat.