The International AI Summit 2026 brought approximately 1,500 leaders, policymakers, researchers and entrepreneurs to the RDS in Dublin to explore a central question: how can Europe turn its AI ambition into economic and societal impact?
From the Taoiseach’s announcement of Ireland’s new Intelligence programme to contributions from Demis Hassabis, Brad Smith and Sarah Friar, the discussions covered scientific breakthroughs, AI agents, responsible adoption and the future of work.
For us, one message connected them all: Ireland is already applying AI. The opportunity now is to scale what works.
Through our work with AI Ireland and the AI Awards, we see organisations across the island using AI to improve healthcare, transform public services, increase productivity and develop new products. The challenge is helping more organisations turn those individual successes into widespread, measurable impact.
Ireland’s Intelligence programme: turning ambition into adoption
One of the summit’s most significant announcements was Intelligence, a national initiative designed to accelerate AI adoption across Ireland.
An Taoiseach Micheal Martin outlined an ambition to strengthen Ireland’s position in AI innovation, investment and responsible adoption. The programme focuses on business productivity, workforce skills and literacy, research, entrepreneurship and public services.
Its success will depend on how those ambitions translate into everyday practice. Many organisations have introduced AI tools; the next step is to apply them effectively to core processes.
A manufacturer might use AI to predict equipment failures, a healthcare organisation could support earlier diagnosis, and a financial services business could improve customer response times. Each application has a clear purpose and outcomes that can be measured.
The measure of success should be the value organisations create from AI: better services, stronger businesses and improved outcomes for people.
Sarah Friar: From asking AI questions to giving it work
Sarah Friar, Chief Financial Officer of OpenAI, shared research into how European businesses are adopting AI agents.
AI assistants typically respond to questions or generate content. Agents can carry out sequences of tasks, use connected tools and support more complete workflows, within the permissions and controls they are given.
For example, an assistant might draft a customer follow-up email. An agent could review approved customer information, prepare a meeting briefing, draft the follow-up, update a business system and flag outstanding actions for human approval. We are moving from asking AI questions to giving AI work to do.
The research presented indicated that agentic tools accounted for more than half of AI output among the European business customers studied. It also highlighted differences in adoption between countries, with Lithuania among the examples discussed.
For Irish businesses, the practical question is how these capabilities can improve the way work gets done. That could mean reducing administration, accelerating financial reporting or improving customer service.
Greater autonomy also requires clear boundaries. Organisations need to decide what AI can do independently, what requires approval and which decisions remain with people.
Demis Hassabis: Scientific breakthroughs and the importance of safety
Demis Hassabis, CEO and co-founder of Google DeepMind and Nobel Prize winner, reflected on the journey from AlphaGo to AlphaFold.
AlphaGo has demonstrated AI’s ability to tackle complex problems involving strategy and planning. AlphaFold subsequently showed how AI could address a major scientific challenge: predicting the three-dimensional structures of proteins.
Protein shapes influence how they function. Making structure predictions available at scale has helped researchers investigate biological processes, with implications for disease research, drug discovery and biotechnology.
For business leaders, there is a wider lesson: AI can make it possible to tackle problems that previously seemed too difficult, expensive or time-consuming to solve.
Hassabis also emphasised AI safety and the need for more mathematical and scientific expertise to help understand and control increasingly capable systems.
Those questions matter to every organisation adopting AI. How reliable are its outputs? What happens when it makes a mistake? What information can it access? Who is accountable, and when must a person review an action? Innovation and safety need to advance together.
Brad Smith: Putting responsible AI into practice
Brad Smith, Vice Chair and President of Microsoft, focused on governance, trust, security and ensuring AI’s benefits reach across society.
For organisations, that means translating responsible AI principles into everyday decisions: selecting tools, training employees, protecting sensitive information and reviewing significant actions.
The need becomes more pressing as agents gain access to business systems. Drafting a document and changing financial records involve different levels of responsibility.
An AI system might analyse invoices and identify anomalies, while a finance manager approves payments. It might support recruitment administration, while people remain accountable for fair employment decisions.
Clear governance gives employees and leaders the confidence to use AI effectively. It should make responsibilities, permissions and review processes understandable to everyone involved.
The future of work starts with people
The summit also addressed AI’s impact on employment. The Irish Government announced a forum bringing together employers, trade unions and Government representatives to examine changes in jobs and workplaces.
Employees are already using AI to summarise documents, analyse information, prepare presentations and handle repetitive administration. As capabilities develop, organisations need to help people build the skills and confidence to use them well.
That requires leadership. Employees need to understand why AI is being introduced, what outcomes are expected and how they will be supported. They also need time to experiment safely and share what works.
A practical starting point is to identify tasks that consume time without making the best use of people’s expertise. Reducing that burden can free teams to focus on customers, problem-solving and service improvements. The goal should be to help people do better work.
Europe’s challenge: making AI easier to scale
Europe’s competitiveness was another recurring theme. The continent has strong universities, research institutions, industrial expertise and entrepreneurs, but businesses can face barriers when expanding across markets.
Entrepreneurs at the summit discussed fragmented systems, different national requirements and access to suitable data. Addressing those challenges could make it easier to build and scale AI businesses in Europe.
Industrial data offers a particular opportunity. Manufacturing, engineering, pharmaceuticals and agriculture generate information that could support better maintenance, lower energy consumption, stronger supply chains and new services.
Turning that potential into useful products requires reliable data and integration with existing operations. For Irish companies, there is an opportunity to develop solutions that can be deployed repeatedly across European and international markets.
What the AI Awards show about Ireland’s progress
One of our highlights was AI Ireland Founder Mark Kelly presenting at the Meta stand and sharing insights from the AI Awards.
The 2026 Awards, taking place on 17 November, will feature 60 finalists across 15 categories. Their work spans healthcare, public services, sustainability, cybersecurity, customer service and enterprise innovation.
These examples come from start-ups, small businesses, researchers, public bodies and established enterprises. They demonstrate the breadth of practical AI innovation across the island of Ireland.
Through the Awards, we see two broad sources of business value.
The Blue Euro: saving money and improving efficiency
The Blue Euro describes applications that improve productivity, reduce costs and help organisations operate more efficiently.
Examples include automating administration, processing documents, reducing equipment downtime and accelerating reporting. Their value can often be measured through time saved, lower costs, fewer errors and improved service quality.
The Green Euro: creating revenue and opportunity
The Green Euro describes applications that create new products, services, markets and revenue.
A business might develop an AI-powered customer service or turn specialist knowledge into a scalable digital product. These opportunities can change what a company offers and how it grows.
Both matter. Efficiency improvements can deliver immediate returns, while new products and services can support longer-term growth. The Awards give us a platform to recognise that work and help others learn from it.
Five priorities for business leaders
Moving from experimentation to consistent value requires a structured approach. At AI Ireland, we look at five connected areas:
- People: Do employees understand AI, feel confident using it and know where human judgement is essential?
- Process: Which workflows offer the greatest opportunity, and how could they be improved?
- Platforms: Are the tools suitable for the task, and can they integrate with existing systems?
- Proprietary Data: Is the organisation’s information accurate, accessible, secure and suitable for approved AI applications?
- Products and Services: How could AI improve customer offerings or create new sources of revenue?
Start with a small number of valuable opportunities and establish what success looks like. Measure outcomes such as time saved, fewer errors, faster decisions, better customer experiences or new revenue.
Customer onboarding is a useful example. AI can help draft a welcome email, but examining the whole process may reveal greater opportunities: preparing documentation, identifying missing information, summarising requirements, supporting handovers and flagging delays.
That same approach can be applied across finance, HR, operations, marketing and customer service. Test carefully, learn from the results and expand the applications that deliver value.
Ireland’s next step
The International AI Summit brought scientific progress, business adoption, workforce change and governance into the same conversation. It also reinforced how much practical innovation is already happening in Ireland.
We have technology expertise, an established research community, internationally connected businesses and organisations demonstrating what AI can achieve. Our next step is to help more businesses apply those lessons, support employees through change and turn promising applications into sustained results.
Thank you to Meta for the invitation to present, and to everyone involved in organising the International AI Summit. It was a pleasure to reconnect with Ireland’s AI community and meet others working to advance responsible innovation.
Our biggest takeaway remains simple: Ireland is already applying AI. The opportunity now is to scale what works. The time to kick on is now.
Ready to turn AI ambition into action?
AI Ireland’s Executive AI Leadership Sessions help boards and senior leadership teams identify where AI can deliver value, make informed investment decisions and establish the governance needed for responsible adoption. From improving everyday workflows to exploring AI agents and new revenue opportunities, we help leaders move from experimentation to a practical plan.
We also deliver AI Leadership Presentations and Briefings that bring the developments shaping Ireland and Europe’s AI landscape into focus for your organisation.
Contact Us to discuss how your leadership team can turn AI’s potential into measurable results.
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