OpenAI’s latest DevDay reinforced a significant shift in how businesses could use AI: from answering individual prompts to carrying out ongoing work across connected systems.
For Ireland’s technology sector – from multinational employers in Dublin’s Silicon Docks to scaling SMEs and regional tech hubs – the implications extend beyond faster content creation. AI agents could increasingly support the processes that keep organisations running.
The opportunity is substantial, but turning that potential into reliable business value will require clear workflows, appropriate controls and people who understand how to delegate work effectively.
1. Always-On Agents and More Affordable Intelligence
Two developments stood out:
Dots: Always-on agents that work across connected apps, continue between conversations and return results for review. Their autonomy is defined by the user and its availability is rolling out gradually.
GPT-6.1 Sol: A lower-cost model for complex coding, computer use and professional work, offering near-Astra performance.
For businesses, the opportunity is to delegate recurring work with a defined goal, clear boundaries and an agreed review process.
Potential applications include preparing regular reports, tracking project updates and assembling information from approved sources. These are starting points for controlled trials, with success measured against the time, cost and quality of the existing process.
2. AI Within the Collaborative Workspace
OpenAI also announced:
ChatGPT Space: Files, editable Pages and collaboration in one workspace.
ChatGPT in Slack and Microsoft Teams: Access within approved conversations, subject to deployment permissions.
Team Tasks: Scheduled or event-triggered work using service accounts and approved connections.
These developments could reduce the effort involved in moving information between conversations, documents and business applications.
The practical value will depend on context quality. Teams need accurate source material, clear ownership and sensible access permissions if agents are to contribute reliably to shared work.
3. Faster Execution and Cloud Development
Astra Ultrafast brings faster output to supported API and Codex workloads. Access in Codex and ChatGPT Work includes the $500/month Pro plan and eligible Enterprise and Edu plans, with residency restrictions.
Reusable Codex cloud environments support continuing development tasks, while Codex Security Cloud, in research preview, provides findings and proposed patches for review.
For Irish organisations, performance should be assessed alongside total workflow cost, reliability and data requirements. A faster model is useful when it improves the outcome that matters to the business.
What Irish Business Leaders Should Prioritise
1. Move from Individual Prompts to Defined Workflows
Start with a recurring process that has a clear owner, predictable inputs and a measurable outcome.
Map the steps before introducing an agent. Specify the information it can access, the actions it can take and the points where a person must review or approve its work.
A focused pilot could test report preparation, internal knowledge retrieval or routine project coordination. Measure time saved, accuracy, exceptions and the effort required to supervise the agent.
2. Build Governance into the Process
As agents gain access to business systems, organisations need clear accountability for their actions.
Permissions, approval requirements, activity records and escalation procedures should be part of the workflow from the outset. Teams should also know how to pause an agent and recover when a task goes wrong.
Product controls can support governance, but responsibility remains with the organisation deploying the system.
3. Invest in AI Literacy and Workflow Redesign
Effective delegation requires judgement. Employees need to know how to define a task, provide useful context, evaluate results and recognise when human intervention is necessary.
Managers also need to consider how responsibilities change when AI takes on parts of a process. Training should connect directly to the work people do and the decisions they remain accountable for.
For Irish businesses, the practical next step is to select one useful workflow, establish clear controls and test whether an agent can improve it. The strongest gains will come from combining capable technology with informed people and well-designed processes.
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