Employers and employees divided on positive effects of AI, says survey

Accenture data shows most employees didn't feel secure in their job or role

'For organisations to fully unlock the value of AI, they need to bring their people with them,' said Hilary O’Meara, Accenture in Ireland country managing director.

Less that half of employees in a survey of technology and talent trends felt secure in their job or role, despite business leaders expecting to increase their hiring this year, new research data reports.

The Accenture Pulse of Change survey published on Monday shows Irish business leaders have the highest confidence from leaders in 20 countries questioned. Some 96% of Irish leaders questioned expect domestic revenue growth in 2026, surpassing the European average of 91% and marking the highest level of confidence among all European countries surveyed.

However, there is a widening gap between leaders and employees when it comes to AI readiness, communication, and overall confidence in technological change.  Over nine in 10 (91%) Irish leaders said their experience with gen AI over the past year has changed the way they think about technology for the better, compared to 69% in the US and 79% in the UK. Among Irish employees, only 51% said their experience with gen AI over the past year changed the way they think about technology for the better, compared with 61% across Europe.

"This research shows that for organisations to fully unlock the value of AI, they need to bring their people with them," said Hilary O’Meara, Accenture in Ireland country managing director. "Employees are asking for clearer communication and clarity in how AI will change their roles and skills. The companies that succeed in 2026 won’t just scale AI technologies, they’ll scale trust, transparency and capability, resulting in greater employee confidence."

Only 17% of Irish employees strongly agreed that leadership has very clearly communicated how AI agents and Agentic AI will impact the workforce, including changes to roles and required skills.

The research found that 94% of Irish leaders expect to increase investment in AI this year and 56% of leaders surveyed plan to prioritise upskilling and reskilling their people for AI-enhanced work this year.

The Accenture data was gathered from 3,650 executives and 3,350 employees globally, including 1,070 executives and 929 employees across Europe and 100 business leaders and 71 employees in Ireland.