Study: Irish businesses outpace global peers in AI maturity, impact and trust

28% of Irish organisations are at the "transformative" maturity stage of AI adoption - nearly three times the global average

New research that explores the use, impact and trustworthiness of artificial intelligence (AI), has found that Irish businesses are ‘significantly’ ahead of the global average in AI adoption maturity and trustworthiness. Ireland is also leading the way in terms of the business impact it is seeing from AI.

The IDC Data and AI Impact Report: The Trust Imperative, commissioned by data and AI leader, SAS, found that 28% of Irish organisations say they are at the leading “transformative” AI maturity stage vs. 10% globally and, in stark contrast, 0% in the UK.

The research also found 44% of Irish businesses are at the “integrated” stage which is the next level down (compared to 28% globally). Ireland’s progress was also reflected in its data infrastructure maturity, a measure of data readiness and architecture. A fifth (20%) of respondents from Ireland are at the highest “optimised” level of maturity (compared with 10% globally) and almost one-third (32%) at the next “managed” level of maturity, compared to around a quarter (26%) globally.

The research shows that Ireland is the global leader in the Impact Index, achieving a score of 4.06 compared with a global average of 3.07. The index provides a quantitative measure of realised business value from AI investments, capturing outcomes across areas such as productivity, innovation, customer experience, operational efficiency and financial returns.

Ireland is also among the highest ranked countries in the Trustworthy AI Index. This measures how far organisations have invested in practices, technologies and governance frameworks that make AI systems reliable, ethical, transparent and worthy of trust. This includes data governance, responsible AI, compliance, explainability and risk management. This underlines a key finding from the research that effective governance and a commitment to responsible AI practices can translate into meaningful business and societal value.

Commenting on the findings, Jean de Villiers, Head of Analytics at SAS Ireland, said: “Ireland’s leading performance in AI maturity and business impact shows the power of a well-established data and technology foundation. However, the same regulatory and compliance landscape that underpins trust also contributes to data readiness challenges. Many organisations are grappling with legacy systems and privacy constraints that slow access to high-quality data - a critical barrier to scaling AI responsibly. By modernising data infrastructure and aligning governance with innovation, Irish organisations are turning regulatory rigour into a competitive advantage.”

Ireland’s ongoing technology push and proactive embrace of AI may also help explain another finding from the research - that a lack of specialised personnel is cited less frequently than the global average. This suggests a maturing AI ecosystem supported by growing local expertise and investment in digital skills.

However, progress may be threatened by data governance challenges, which could undermine Irish businesses’ strong position in AI. The research found that data governance was identified as a challenge by 42% more respondents than the global average, potentially reflecting Ireland’s more advanced position and greater recognition of the importance of high-quality, well-managed data in realising the full potential of AI.

The research exploring AI use and adoption found that only 40% globally are investing to make AI systems trustworthy through governance, explainability and ethical safeguards, even though organisations that prioritise trustworthy AI were 60% more likely to report doubling the ROI of their AI projects.

Trust dilemma
A trust dilemma exists where organisations are not aligned between perceived trust in AI systems and their actual trustworthiness.

In Ireland, 9% of organisations exhibit a strong and positive alignment, while 51% have some degree of “trust dilemma” where there is misalignment between the level of innate trust in AI and the work being done to invest in trustworthy AI systems.

More than a third of organisations (36%) are in the “danger zone,” aligning with the global average of 35%. These organisations express a level of trust in AI that doesn’t align with a corresponding degree of investment in delivering trustworthy AI systems.

Regulations and policies drive data privacy, ethical AI, and readiness challenges
Irish organisations operate under EU regulations that strongly shape how AI is implemented, particularly around data privacy and cross-border transfer.

Organisations appear to use policies to shape service delivery more strictly and are significantly more likely than the global average to follow policies that control where data is stored and that services must be delivered from within the country (+24%).

They are also more concerned than the global average about the data privacy and security implications of AI (+20%) and about tackling challenges related to ethical use, bias and fairness in AI systems (+22%).

The research draws on a global survey of 2,375 respondents conducted across North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Asia Pacific. Participants included a balanced mix of IT professionals and line-of-business leaders, offering perspectives from both technology and business functions.

ENDS