Ireland's place in global AI is a priority for AmCham president

ServiceNow executive Mark Cockerill, new president of AmCham, vows to champion Ireland’s reputation in AI and talent attraction

New honorary roles with AmCham: Paul Kelleher, vice-president, and Mark Cockerill, president, of the American Chamber of Commerce Ireland.

Boosting Ireland’s ability to attract research talent and positioning it as a global leader in AI are key priorities for Mark Cockerill, newly unveiled president of the American Chamber of Commerce Ireland.

ServiceNow executive Mark Cockerill has taken on the role of AmCham president for 2026, succeeding Liz Cunningham, VP of International Tax in Google, who held the honorary title last year. Paul Kelleher of Qualcomm is named as AmCham vice-president for 2026.

Mr Cockerill said: “My priority as president of AmCham for 2026 is to address practical concerns for our members. I’m focused on delivering results for both citizens and organisations, particularly to make it easier to do business and drive innovation.

“I aim to champion and elevate Ireland’s reputation in AI, talent attraction and retention, partnering with the presidency of the Council of the European Union to encourage positive change, growth and investment.” 

Mark Cockerill is ServiceNow's senior VP of legal for corporate, M&A and international development of enterprise workflow. He also leads the company’s business in Ireland, including team growth and expansion. ServiceNow is a cloud platform that manages automated business workflows.

In his AmCham role, Mark’s priorities will include ensuring Ireland is a global leader in AI and attracting research talent. A recent AmCham survey of its members found that 45% of US multinationals in Ireland believe the country should strengthen its digital and AI test environments to bolster our RD&I infrastructure.

The report showed that half of AmCham member companies are experiencing difficulty in attracting talent, with 12% attributing the challenge to a general issue of availability of prospective employees while over two-fifths (44%) cite a shortage in specialist skills.

AmCham members have consistently ranked areas including digital and data, engineering and machine learning and AI as the biggest skills gaps being experienced by their organisations in Ireland.

Ireland’s presidency of the Council of the European Union is also among the foremost priorities for 2026, as it represents a significant opportunity to leverage policy and regulation to boost competitiveness on a global stage and drive innovation and investment in particular areas, including digital technology, research and development (R&D) and sustainability.

Meanwhile, incoming AmCham vice-president, Paul Kelleher, is currently Qualcomm Ireland’s VP for engineering, QT technologies. Paul has over 30 years’ experience in the electronics industry, with the last decade spent working for Qualcomm.

Paul Sweetman, CEO of AmCham, said: “Mark and Paul have both been an important part of AmCham in their capacity as board members, and Mark in his position in 2025 as AmCham Vice President. I am very pleased to welcome them to their new roles for 2026, where their extensive leadership and expertise will play a significant role in supporting our members. 

"This coming year will be important, particularly as transatlantic relations between Europe and the US develop, and Ireland has a great opportunity at hand when the country takes on Presidency to the Council of the European Union. We look forward to working to continue to highlight the benefits that the US-Ireland relationship holds for our societies and economies.”