AI is already directly impacting how organisations operate, hire, and manage people. Northern Ireland has strengths in software development, FinTech, and advanced manufacturing, but Lewis Silkin’s research suggests employers here still do not properly understand how to use AI in their businesses.
Our Future @ Work 2026 report analysed insights from over 660 business leaders globally, whilst our joint survey with MCS Group gathered responses from 66 NI business leaders. Together, these datasets suggest there may be gaps in local understanding and readiness.
Both surveys rank efficiency as the key opportunity presented by AI. In the NI survey, 86.4% cited ‘increased efficiency and productivity’ as the key benefit - far ahead of any other. Globally, respondents had a broader appreciation, with 21% highlighting new revenue streams as a key win, compared to only 6% of NI respondents. This suggests NI employers may not yet fully understand AI’s wider capacities.
The top challenge NI employers said they were facing related to identifying use cases for AI within their business. Amongst the global respondents, this issue ranked 7th on the list of key concerns. It is clear that NI employers know AI can help their business, but they seem to be struggling to work out exactly how it can help, and so are less able to make the business case for investment.
The focus on efficiencies from the NI cohort could well be linked to a perceived gap in AI literacy at a strategic level. A higher percentage of NI respondents were concerned about limited leadership knowledge than in the global survey. Whilst the evidence suggests leaders are excited about the opportunities presented by AI, it seems a lack of understanding at board level about how the technology can be applied in practical ways may be holding them back. Both surveys were aligned in identifying a shortage of AI literacy across the board as their biggest readiness gap.
In terms of how AI is likely to impact workforces in the next twelve months, the survey results agree it is likely to transform roles rather than eliminate them. Neither set of respondents imagine a binary ‘AI replaces jobs’ scenario - rather, jobs are going to change and employers will need staff who are willing and able to reskill to embrace the changes.
Slightly more NI respondents expected AI to reduce or transform entry-level pathways, than the global figure of 20%. Given the demographic profile of the region and its falling birthrate, fewer entry-level roles today could well pave the way for talent shortages at a more senior level in the future. The challenge will be to leverage the benefits of new technology whilst enabling staff to develop the other skills and experience AI cannot replace (such as leadership, empathy and commercial judgement).
Whilst employers know they need to invest in staff training and AI literacy, both surveys suggest that investment is likely to lean towards technology rather than people in the next twelve months. A comparison of the two surveys suggests that this investment focus may be slightly less unbalanced in NI, with 43.2% saying they were leaning toward a technology spend, compared to roughly 74% of global respondents.
Overall, the NI survey results suggest that NI employers share the same hopes and concerns as their global counterparts. However, they still appear to be working out exactly how to use AI in their businesses, whereas globally, the focus has moved beyond identifying use cases to more strategic integration and implementation.
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