Large organisations freeing up thousands of hours per month through AI – report
Research from Trinity College Dublin in collaboration with Microsoft Ireland finds a widening AI maturity gap among Ireland’s small and medium-sized enterprises that, if left unaddressed, risks constraining national productivity and growth. The AI Economy Ireland 2026 report – the third in an annual series tracking how AI adoption and organisational readiness are shaping economic capacity nationwide – found that AI adoption is now near-universal with 92% of organisations using or planning to use AI. Despite this, just 10% of leaders described their deployment of AI as advanced or frontier-level, and SMEs remained disproportionately concentrated at the early stages.
SMEs that invest in AI were more likely to report significant productivity gains than large organisations (18% vs 8%) – a sign that, where SMEs do commit, the returns are real. But too few SMEs are making that investment. Given that SMEs account for more than two-thirds of all employment in Ireland and contribute over 40% of gross value added, the economic stakes are significant.
The report shows a persistent AI readiness gap that is already translating into uneven business outcomes between large firms and SMEs. Large firms are more than twice as likely to deliver weekly time savings of two hours or more per employee (54% vs 25%), and SMEs are more than twice as likely to have no formal AI training in place (15% vs 6%). Left unchecked, this divide risks becoming a structural drag on the country’s productivity and growth.
This gap matters because even modest levels of AI adoption are already delivering measurable gains in day‑to‑day work. According to the report, a typical mid-sized organisation in Ireland is freeing up to 1,000 hours a month through everyday AI use, driven by reduced time spent on meetings, e-mail and routine administrative tasks. For large multinational organisations operating here, this rose to up to 5,000 hours per month.
Importantly, the impact extends beyond organisational efficiency, with clear, direct benefits for leaders themselves. Some 70% of leaders reported a reduction in overall workload pressure, while one in three said AI was making it easier to switch off from work. A further 26% reported fewer hours worked during the evening or weekends.
While efficiency gains are important, they represent only the first phase of AI’s economic potential. International evidence already suggests the biggest returns come not from doing today’s work faster, but from using AI to create new value – through innovation, new products and growth. However, the findings show that many organisations have yet to redesign workflows, governance or operating models to capture these gains at scale. Ultimately, the next phase of economic impact in Ireland will depend on whether organisations use the time freed up by AI to drive innovation and growth, not just efficiency.
Regarding AI adoption, Ireland compares relatively well when set against international benchmarks. Current levels of AI use across Ireland’s workforce place the country among the leading group globally, while enterprise-level adoption in Ireland sits modestly above the EU average. Challenges around governance, skills and translating adoption into organisational impact mirror patterns identified in OECD and international research.
“AI is already delivering real value for Irish organisations, freeing up thousands of hours a month,” said Catherine Doyle, general manager, Microsoft Ireland. “The opportunity now is to make sure the benefits are felt equally. That means closing confidence gaps wherever they exist and supporting SMEs to scale from early adoption to full integration. That’s where the next wave of value will come from.
“But the data reveals a growing divide. While large organisations race ahead, too many SMEs are still at the starting line, and the confidence gap among women in leadership tells us the skills challenge goes beyond technical training. Widespread adoption is what unlocks the biggest gains – and it’s where the real opportunity begins. The next step is using AI not just to do today’s work faster, but to build new products, enter new markets and create value we couldn’t create before.”
“The data clearly shows that Ireland is at an inflection point: AI is firmly embedded in day-to-day operations, and Ireland is among the leading AI-adopting economies globally,” said Prof Ashish Kumar Jha, Adapt Centre, Trinity College Dublin. “The competitive advantage will come from how quickly organisations move from early deployment to scaled, governed and value-driven AI adoption. The levers are clear: organisations with a formal AI policy are ten times more likely to report major productivity gains, and SMEs that do invest in AI capability report higher rates of significant productivity gains than large firms. Closing the maturity gap between large organisations and SMEs will be essential if Ireland is to translate widespread AI adoption into durable, economy-wide productivity gains.”
TechCentral Reporters
Subscribers 0
Fans 0
Followers 0
Followers