Artificial Intelligence is the next key game changer for business, but Irish companies are not as prepared for AI as global business, a new survey has revealed. Almost half of Irish chief executives believe AI will have a bigger impact on the world than the internet revolution, yet half of them are planning AI initiatives in their companies, compared to 77% of chief executives globally. This was one of the key findings of PwC's 2019 Irish CEO survey. "If you look at the global survey, a lot of that awareness or that belief that AI will significantly change how we do business is coming from the US," Feargal O'Rourke, Managing Partner with PwC Ireland, explained. "They are probably just getting an earlier line of sight of the impact of AI, but I think Irish CEOs are certainly waking up to it. Almost two thirds of CEOs believe that it will significantly change how they do business in the next five years, but yet only half of them have plans in place to address this, so there is a bit of a gap there," Mr O'Rourke said.

As many as three quarters of Irish companies believe artificial intelligence (AI) will have a major impact on their industry in the coming years, with 25 per cent expecting it to completely transform their sector. That's according to Accenture's annual Technology Vision 2017 report, which reports on the most disruptive tech trends for businesses. The survey of more than 5,400 business and IT executives across 16 industries and 31 countries, including Ireland, indicates that AI is moving far beyond being a back-end tool to take on a more sophisticated role within companies. Irish companies are seen to be particularly aware of the changing role for AI with 71 per cent of those surveyed saying they believe it will revolutionise the way they gain information from and interact with customers. Almost three quarters of those surveyed also expect AI interfaces to become their primary interface for interacting with the outside world.