Red Hat Survey (1) found that Irish IT leaders acknowledge the gap between AI and cloud computing skills, but concerns are less pronounced compared to other countries, according to Robbie Byrne, country manager at Red Hat, a pipeline of potentially sophisticated engineers within Ireland.
Of the 300 Irish IT managers from large companies, Red Hat’s survey (2) reveals important differences compared to six other countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UAE and the UK), placing Ireland for rapid AI scaling and powerful investments in the cloud and AI.
This study shows strong investment intent. 93% of plans see the rise in cloud investment, 95% in AI, and 100% see the benefits of enterprise open AI solutions.
However, 96% reported siloed teams as a challenge to cloud adoption.
Ireland’s Talent Pipeline
In particular, Red Hat found that 41% of Ireland respondents reported experiencing an urgent AI skill gap. This was compared to the UK where 81% of the UK say the same thing, and in 2023 it was the highest ranked skill gap, rising to 72%.
However, skills deficits remain important, covering strategic AI implementations beyond technical expertise.
“Technology is ahead of our education system and requires a large portion of Ireland’s population to be skilled,” he said.
This creates a double challenge. It offers high skills to the existing workforce while still providing skills related to new graduates.
Innovation and cost management
Importantly, AI can drive efficiency and cost optimization. 71% of Ireland’s IT leaders say it is their top cloud strategy for the next 18 months, and will also serve as a focus for innovation.
Germany is the only other country reporting cost optimization as a priority, and is jointly the most preferred, cited by 88% of respondents.
While AI often requires greater investment than basic automation, the rapid evolution of small language models (SLMS) (a compact and efficient model that optimizes hardware and energy) reduces cost barriers and improves accessibility for a wide range of applications.
At the same time, on-premises applications can be costly in the public cloud, driving the trend towards hybrid cloud platforms like Red Hat OpenShift. This will enable Red Hat OpenShift to be an Irish AI ambition enabler, offering organizations greater choice, flexibility and independence as they navigate unknown confusion.
As Ireland has achieved its position as an AI leader, Red Hat’s open source solutions offer the dual advantages of cost optimization and innovation. By supporting the deployment of both large and small language models across hybrid environments, Red Hat will enable Irish companies to maintain data sovereignty while accessing cutting-edge AI capabilities. Only 42% of IT managers who are particularly valuable report having a scalable IT platform for AI implementation.
Addressing the Complexity of the Cloud: A Hybrid Approach to AI Advancement
Adoption of AI benefits from a hybrid approach, as data resides on-premises environments, at the edge of the cloud and network.
“The key is to have the flexibility to keep business critical information within the company, close to the model. Information changes rapidly, and large-scale language models can quickly become obsolete,” Byrne said.
Addressing concerns about the opacity of generative AI, Byrne advocated openness as an important measure. When an AI model and its training data are open, it promotes trust by allowing users to examine the use and processing of the data, thereby verifying privacy and data sovereignty.
Byrne highlighted the open source InstantLab project, which will enable business-knowledge people to contribute to AI model development.
“The idea behind Instructlab, which Red Hat and IBM released as an open source project, is to make AI even more open and accessible. Therefore, people with business knowledge, rather than data scientists, can contribute to the AI model,” he said.
For organizations looking to harness the advantages of AI preparation, strategic approaches need to balance technical implementation with business transformation goals. Companies should prioritize developing inter-duty teams that break down the aforementioned silos and blend technical expertise with domain knowledge.
Companies can also leverage platforms like InstandLab, which democratizes AI development, to leverage open source communities and partners like Red Hat to accelerate their learning curve.
Ireland’s AI skills gap is leaning towards strategic thinking rather than purely technical expertise, and reflects its historic FDI appeal strategy. Nevertheless, Byrne has successfully made Irish tech companies like Stripe and LetsgetChecked.
“The right skills supported by investments in education, innovation and business acceleration will enable Ireland to become a global technology leader in AI,” he said.
AI requires strategic thinking ahead of time, Byrne emphasized: “Organisations need to define business priorities. What specific problems are they solving? Do you need a generic AI or a focus model? How do you manage security, compliance, and governance?”
Byrne said: “In this respect, we are leaning against partners who can gain expertise and collaboration in communities working towards the goals that people share,” Byrne said.
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(1.) Red Hat Survey, November 2024: Ireland IT Managers adopt new technologies to support cost optimization, DevOps and security in preparation for the rise in AI and cloud investments in 2025
(2.) Red Hat Survey, October 2024: AI is the driving force behind the UK’s cloud strategy and top skills gap
