{"id":114686,"date":"2026-01-28T13:19:17","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T13:19:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/expleo.com\/global\/en\/?post_type=insights&p=114686"},"modified":"2026-02-16T08:42:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T08:42:16","slug":"balancing-promise-perils-ai-adoption","status":"publish","type":"insights","link":"https:\/\/expleo.com\/global\/en\/insights\/blog\/balancing-promise-perils-ai-adoption\/","title":{"rendered":"Balancing the promise and perils of AI adoption\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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By Rebecca Keenan, Solutions Director \u2013 AI & automation at\u00a0Expleo<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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AI is moving faster than many businesses can keep up with; it is reshaping business models, job roles and innovation itself. It has been a revolution, or at least it promises to be one. Most businesses appear to be excited about moving beyond simple desktop AI chatbots to deploy meaningful, integrated AI solutions at scale. However, a nervousness about ethics, as well as AI\u2019s impact on their workforces, could be preventing enterprises from getting true value from AI, or even deploying it at all.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Two recent studies from\u00a0Expleo, the\u00a0<\/span>Business Transformation Index (BTI) 2025<\/span><\/a>, carried out in Ireland, and\u00a0<\/span>AI Pulse<\/span><\/a>, carried out in three European markets: the UK, France and Germany, surveyed decision-makers in large enterprises about their use of AI, along with their hopes and fears. Both studies reveal that across Europe, business leaders are excited about the promise of AI and want to lean in. Some are doing exactly that, but most are not. While 98% are \u2018using AI\u2019, just 30% of large businesses in Ireland have successfully deployed and scaled one or more AI models. In fact, 23% are still struggling to find use cases beyond chatbots.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Getting to grips with data<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Looming questions about ethics and data are proving to be major\u00a0stumbling blocks\u00a0that cry out for greater AI governance. Businesses\u00a0operating\u00a0in the EU must ensure that any AI introduced is compliant with the EU AI Act. Yet, in Ireland,\u00a0<\/span>Expleo\u2019s\u00a0BTI 2025<\/span><\/a>\u00a0showed that only 71% of business leaders are confident that their company is compliant. The wider European report shows similar trepidation, with\u00a0three-quarters (77%) of those surveyed\u00a0indicating\u00a0that they trust their organisation to use AI ethically. This leaves\u00a0a significant proportion\u00a0\u2013\u00a0approximately a\u00a0quarter of businesses in Ireland and elsewhere in Europe \u2013 who are not willing to stand over their AI\u2019s statutory, or ethical, integrity. And why would they, when, in Ireland, 67% of business leaders admitted that their organisation cannot effectively use AI because their data is unmanageable?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This should be an alarm bell moment for business leaders in Europe. At a time when AI models are poised to become more complex, particularly as the development of agentic AI gathers momentum, we can be certain that the technology we are seeing and experiencing\u00a0now is AI in its simplest form. Getting to grips with their data \u2013 and what their AI models process and \u2018know\u2019- will therefore become increasingly cumbersome for businesses that do not address their governance gap now.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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AI and the workforce\u00a0<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Simultaneously, there is a workplace impact to consider. In Europe, over a third (35%) of business leaders are worried about how AI is transforming their organisation. A similar proportion (36%) is even worried about how it will\u00a0impact\u00a0their own jobs. These concerns are not misplaced: in Ireland, 68% of large organisations have already stopped hiring for certain roles because AI can fulfil the responsibilities.\u00a0Evidently, it\u00a0is no longer a question of if AI will\u00a0impact\u00a0jobs and livelihoods, but how.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This is something that businesses must address head-on with their teams. A failure to do so risks procrastination, or resentful workforces \u2013 and\u00a0maybe both. AI has sparked understandable hesitation among many employees, yet the more\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0applied in practice, the more we see how central people are to making it work.\u00a0Expleo\u2019s\u00a0research underscores this trend, showing that AI is unearthing new opportunities and that a mass reskilling is on the horizon. In Ireland, some 72% of enterprises are offering higher salaries for those with AI-specific skills, suggesting that there could also be more resilient,\u00a0meaningful\u00a0and higher-value work on offer for those who embrace AI.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As with any transformation programme, success with AI requires more than just technical capability. If even the most senior\u00a0leaders\u00a0in an organisation have concerns about their AI, one can be certain that those concerns are reverberating across the organisation. AI, without question, will be vital to every organisation. But it demands openness, governance, streamlined datasets and a unified approach from the entire organisation. As organisations across Ireland and Europe navigate this wave of digital transformation, those who blend innovation with integrity will be best placed to turn AI\u2019s promise into real performance and do so with confidence.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Unlock faster, smarter, AI driven business transformation\u00a0<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Whether\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0starting small or scaling big,\u00a0Expleo\u00a0helps you explore opportunities, overcome challenges, and unlock the full potential of AI within your business. Discover how AI can transform your business.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBOOK A\u00a0FREE\u00a0CONSULTATION\u00a0<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Research from Expleo explores how large organisations in Europe are approaching Artificial Intelligence (AI), including deployment, data governance and workplace implications. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":81,"featured_media":114688,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","_angie_page":false,"footnotes":""},"topic":[164,154,145],"insights-single-templates":[],"industry-taxonomy":[265],"content-type":[23],"country":[119],"service":[216,211],"class_list":["post-114686","insights","type-insights","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","topic-artificial-intelligence-and-robotics","topic-compliance-and-regulation","topic-digital-transformation","industry-taxonomy-aall-industries","content-type-blog","country-ireland","service-digital-transformation","service-innovation-management-solutions"],"yoast_head":"\nExpleo | Balancing the promise and perils of AI adoption\u00a0<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Research from Expleo explores how large organisations in Europe are approaching Artificial Intelligence (AI). 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